AS Food For The Poor (FFP) prepares to launch its 40th anniversary celebrations, long-time donors National Baking Company Foundation and Wisynco helped kick things off by handing over two houses to needy families.

The units, officially presented last Thursday, were the first to be donated under the new FFP campaign ‘Build Back the Love for Jamaica’, as the organisation prepares to galvanise others to support its ongoing outreach.

The houses, which have a more prominent structure and additional features, were received amidst a torrent of emotion and much fanfare.

The foundation’s benefactor, Lovette Blair, was overwrought as she repeatedly expressed gratitude for finally having a space to call her own.

Blair and her son lived with two other relatives in a single-bedroom dwelling heavily infested by termites and plagued with leaks. And to make matters worse, the 52-year-old has been living with bipolar disorder for more than 18 years.

She explained that despite being medicated, her living conditions made managing difficult.

Without steady work coming in as a seamstress, she had to supplement her income by raising chickens or doing odd jobs once per week to make ends meet.

But seemingly none of it was enough to strike out on her own, and it was in 2018 when she applied for the FFP’s housing assistance.

“For 18 years me and my child in one room, and sometimes we even had to share the same bed,” said a tearful Blair.

“So when I lay down in the night and it’s quiet and I feel good, I say ‘Thank you Jesus for my donors and Food For The Poor because they make me feel comfortable.’ I could not do it without them,” added Blair.

In a similar expression of gratitude, marketing and development manager at Food For The Poor Marsha Burrell Rose thanked the donors as she highlighted how their continued support enables FFP to improve the lives of others.

As she and Blair led a tour of the house Burrell Rose shared that the new and improved house structure — as well as the additional amenities such as water-harvesting supplies, a stove, gas cylinder, and a small solar unit, which were donated with each house — was made possible due to the consistent contributions of donors over the years.

“At Food For The Poor we don’t consider this a job — it’s our mission, and our mission is to impact. And you know we lost our founder this year and when you hear the stories…it renewed our strength and our hopes to make sure that we are seeing his vision and [that] God is using us to make these changes in their lives. And again, I will continuously say, ‘Thank you so much,’ ” added Burrell Rose.

In the meantime Craig Hendrickson, director of marketing and sales at National Baking Company, announced that the foundation will increase its annual donation to FFP to 12 houses, up from 11 and 10 in previous years.

Wisynco, through its brand Boom, also handed over a house to its benefactor Kensworth Witter at the same time. More details on the new FFP campaign and how others can join will be forthcoming at the campaign’s official launch this month.