Summary
Food for the Hungry, Inc. ("FOOD") is an international organization that exists to fulfill the God-given mandate to help people overcome both physical and spiritual hunger (Isaiah 58). FOOD aspires to follow the Biblical example of community to community, preaching, teaching, and healing (Matthew 9:35-38). FOOD's operates integrated, child-focused development and relief programs in more than 25 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Food for the Hungry also responds to natural disasters (such as famines and earthquakes) and man-made disasters (such as war). Food for the Hungry is an international partnership raising funds in Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Support comes from individuals, churches, foundations, businesses, the United Nations, and several government sources.
This organization is a nonprofit. Contributions to it are fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. It is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA).
Contact Information: [ Back to top ]
| Mailing Address: | 1224 E. Washington St.
Phoenix, AZ
85034-1102 |
| Website: | www.fh.org |
| Phone: | (480) 998-3100, (800) 248-6437 |
| Email: | You need to enable javascript to see the email |
Organization Details [ Back to top ]
EIN: 952680390
| CEO/President: |
Mr. Benjamin K. Homan |
Tax Deductible: |
Yes |
| Chairman: |
Theodore S. Corwin, Jr. |
Fiscal Year End: |
September 30 |
| Board Size: |
12 |
Financial info from: |
990 |
| Founder: |
Dr. Larry Ward |
Member of ECFA: |
Yes |
| Year Founded: |
1971 |
Member of ECFA since: |
1980 |
Food for the Hungry, Inc. ("FOOD") is an international organization that exists to fulfill the God-given mandate to help people overcome both physical and spiritual hunger (Isaiah 58). FOOD aspires to follow the Biblical example of community to community, preaching, teaching, and healing (Matthew 9:35-38). Motivated by Christ's love, the international partnership of Food for the Hungry exists to meet both physical and spiritual hungers of the poor. This purpose is met by speaking out to all people about physical and spiritual hungers, sending people to share Christ's love, and facilitating emergency relief and sustainable development.
FOOD operates integrated, child-focused development and relief programs in more than 25 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Food for the Hungry also responds to natural disasters (such as famines and earthquakes) and man-made disasters (such as war). FOOD achieves its goals by partnering with and serving the Body of Christ in its mission to follow the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in working with the poor and oppressed to promote human transformation, seek justice, and bear witness to the Good News.
Food for the Hungry is an international partnership raising funds in Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Support comes from individuals, churches, foundations, businesses, the United Nations, and several government sources.
This organization is a nonprofit. Contributions to it are fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. It is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA).
Food for the Hungry uses the following to communicate its mission:
Food for the Hungry is an international organization of Christian motivation, committed to working with poor people to overcome hunger and poverty through integrated self-development and relief programs. Relief efforts include famines in Africa, typhoons in Southeast Asia, floods in the United States, and earthquakes in Central America.
Program Accomplishments [ Back to top ]
FOOD's accomplishments and activity is through: Child sponsorship, emergency relief and rehabilitation, community clean water projects, health education and intervention, agriculture development, income generation, skills training and education.
Staff also work with indigenous organizations to help them better serve the needs of people in their own communities. Missions opportunities are offered through Food's longer-term assignments with its Hunger Corps program.
Ongoing programs and/or Hunger Corps staff are doing ongoing development work in: Bangladesh, Bolivia, Cambodia, China, Congo (formerly Zaire), Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Kenya, Laos, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Rwanda, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Vietnam.
Relief services and/or commodities are going to: Angola, Bosnia, Brazil, Former Soviet Union, Mongolia, North Korea, United States of America.
Statement of Faith [ Back to top ]
Food for the Hungry uses the following to express its Statement of Faith:
- We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.
- We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
- We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
- We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
- We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
- We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
- We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Larry Ward, Ph.D., founded the organization in 1971, with offices in southern California. He moved the offices to Arizona in 1974.
Early projects included helping refugees in war-torn Bangladesh, earthquake victims in Nicaragua, and hungry and needy people in Haiti and West Africa. Hunger Corps, the people-sending division of Food for the Hungry, began in 1979.
Dr. Larry Ward retired in 1984 and Ted Yamamori, Ph.D., became president. As a young child, Yamamori had his own near-starvation experience at the end of World War II in Japan. He survived, thanks to the kindness of strangers.
In January 2000, Dr. Yamamori, publicly announced his plans for retirement, after serving as president of both organizations since 1984. On December 4, 2000, Randall L. Hoag was announced as the president of Food for the Hungry International (FHI), and Benjamin K. Homan as the president of Food for the Hungry, Incorporated (FH, Inc.).
Randy Hoag served as executive vice-president of Food for the Hungry International beginning in 1996. He began his career with Food for the Hungry in 1983 as a volunteer and later served as country director of Bolivia from 1987 to 1991.
Ben Homan came to Food for the Hungry after serving as vice president at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, where he served since 1988
Food for the Hungry, Inc. uses the following to express some of its Ministry Needs:
DONATE
- $20 - To feed and education a hurting child for an entire month.
- $48 - To provide safe drinking water in a remote village for 10 people.
- $75 - Will supply hearty breakfasts to 50 school-aged children.
PRAY
NationShapers seeks to answer this question while providing intercessors with resources on how to pray strategically for developing countries and lands where people have never heard the name Jesus. Each month, NationShapers.org will highlight a country and provide facts, historical information and up to the minute prayer requests for families, churches and governments. As a NationShaper, you will help change the course of history while learning about the different nations and cultures of our world. It's going to be a great journey.
Research Analysis
Transparency Grade [ Back to top ]
| Transparency Grade of : A |
| Criteria category | Grade | Other Comments |
| Timeliness: | 90 | |
| Financial Information: | 100 | |
| Foundational Clarity: | 100 | 3/30/2006 11:48:09 AM: Descriptive information was abundant and thorough. |
| Level of Cooperation: | 100 | 3/30/2006 11:48:13 AM: Answers to questions were thorough. |
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MinistryWatch.com 5 Star Financial Efficiency Ratings [ Back to top ]
| Ranking Category | Rating | Overall Rank | Relief and Development Sector |
|---|
| Overall Efficiency Rating |  | 24 of 353 | 16 of 54 |
| Fund Acquisition Decision |  | 99 of 353 | 26 of 54 |
| Resource Allocation Decision | | 37 of 353 | 23 of 54 |
| Asset Utilization Decision | | 21 of 353 | 8 of 54 |
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Food for the Hungry says God is opening doors for it to fulfill its mission
MinistryWatch.com’s Take
Revised, March, 2006
By Andy Preslar, Rodney Pitzer and Michael Barrick
Food for the Hungry, Inc. (FH) is one member of a family of international organizations, but works on a local level in order to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the poverty-stricken throughout the world. MinistryWatch.com is able to conclude that FH exhibits a great deal of openness and is able to direct a larger portion of its financial resources directly towards its programs than other ministries. Food for the Hungry has been designated a MinistryWatch.com “Shining Light”
(http://ministrywatch.com/mw2.1/pdf/SL_FoodForHungry.pdf).
Intent
FH is an international organization which exists in order to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the poverty-stricken throughout the world. FH is child-focused, seeking to help children develop their God-given potential. All people, and children especially, are best-equipped to reach their potential, spiritually and physically, when they live in a nurturing environment. FH is therefore, by extension, church and community focused. Churches are encouraged to develop a “holistic” philosophy of ministry (i.e., meeting the needs of the whole person, not just his spiritual needs). FH, in partnership with local churches, also ministers to entire communities by providing food, disaster relief, education, economic and agricultural planning, and a host of other services designed to help build safe, healthy, and prosperous communities across the globe. By so doing, FH intends to be a witness to the love of Christ, to create opportunity for the spread of the Gospel message, and to fulfill every aspect of the Great Commission (Mt. 28:18-20).
Integrity and Scope
FH was founded in 1971 by Dr. Larry Ward. The ministry was headquartered in southern California until Ward moved its offices to Arizona in 1974. FH began its ministry by sending relief to refugees in Bangladesh, earthquake victims in Nicaragua, and the people of Haiti and West Africa. In 1979, FH established a division of ministry called The Hunger Corps, which works to send people to minister in various afflicted regions of the world.
Ward retired in 1984, and Dr. Ted Yamamori took over as president of FH. Yamamori served as president of FH and its partner organization, Food for the Hungry International (FHI) until his retirement in 2001. Benjamin Homan is the current president of FH. Before joining FH, Homan served as vice-president at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. The current president of FHI is Randy Hoag, who served as vice-president of the organization beginning in 1996. Hoag joined FH in 1983 as a volunteer, and worked as its country director in Bolivia from 1987-91.
Food for the Hungry is an international partnership of autonomous agencies. In addition to the U.S. organization are those in Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Food for the Hungry, Inc. (the U.S. agency) is related to Food for the Hungry International (FHI) by being the first support entity formed to implement the goals of FHI. This is done by providing support for the programs of FHI. For example, Food for the Hungry, Inc. supports FHI’s Child Development Program by means of its own Sponsor a Child program. The two organizations do, however, have separate and distinct Boards of Directors, and issue separate financial statements. . The international partnership of Food for the Hungry employs some 2,000 staff (80 at the U.S. headquarters), 90 percent of which are nationals working in their country of birth. The U.S. headquarters of FH is located in Phoenix, Ariz. The International Service Center of FHI is located in Bangkok, Thailand.
FH currently has staff and/or ongoing programs in the following countries: AFRICA (D.R. Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda); ASIA (Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Korea, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan); EUROPE (Sweden, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Romania); LATIN AMERICA (Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru); MIDDLE EAST (Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq); NORTH AMERICA (Canada, Phoenix, AZ, Washington D.C, Gulf Coast Region).
Method
FH implements its purpose for existing (overcoming physical and spiritual hunger) primarily through several programs: Sponsor a Child and the Hunger Corps.
The Sponsor a Child program allows an individual donor to minister to one child in particular. By donating $26.00 a month to FH, a person can, through FH, provide the following services for the child:
- Child Sponsorship
- Long-term Hunger Corps missions
- Short-term mission trips
- Student Ministries (includes internships, overseas study abroad, and campus ministries)
The Sponsor a Child program allows an individual donor to minister to one child in particular. By donating $28.00 a month to FH, a person can, through FH, provide the following services for the child:
- Personal visits from FH staff
- Educational assistance
- Medical checkups
- Extra-curricular activities (e.g., Vacation Bible Schools)
- Child Sponsorship Day and Christmas Party
- A naturally integrated presentation of the Gospel message
Other specified “sponsorship” programs are in place as well. A donor can, for example, give $48.00 to provide safe drinking water for one month for 10 people.
The Hunger Corps program is set up to encourage people to go overseas and work with FH staff and volunteers in directly combating hunger, sickness, poverty, and other social (as well as spiritual) ills. A Hunger Corps mission can be either a long-term or a short-term position. All applicants for a Hunger Corps position must raise their own support, and must agree with and embody FH’s Corporate Identity. This corporate identity includes:
- The vision of ending spiritual and physical hunger worldwide
- The values of the Lordship of Christ, love for the whole person, unity and diversity, integrity and transparency, and justice
- The “Vision of a Community”
In addition, some (but by no means all) positions require previous training and experience in a particular field. The Hunger Corps volunteers are the arms and legs of FH. One can get a good idea of the diversity of services rendered by FH by simply perusing the long-term positions available in the Hunger Corps. The following is just a sampling:
- English Tutors
- Health Workers
- Civil Engineers
- Child Development Assistants
- Communications Officer
- Water Management Advisor
- Nutrition Specialist
- Agriculturist
- Physical Therapist
- Spiritual Coordinator
Short-term missions
Food for the Hungry also offers short-term teams trips to many of the communities they work in. This allows churches to send groups of people to respond to certain needs in a community and work on projects which might include digging wells, building, VBS and other church development projects, and water/agricultural projects. Sometimes the experience is so life-changing, churches to decide to Adopt a Community, where FH facilitates a long-term relationship between a church and an impoverished community.
Student Ministries
In addition to short-term trips, Food for the Hungry mobilizes college-aged students with several programs, including Go-ED. an accredited overseas study abroad, where students spend a semester both in a classroom and field setting. In addition to Go-ED. FH has recently started an internship program and Campus Ministry, all to mobilize younger people and equip them to advocate for the poor.
Through the Child Sponsorship Program and the Hunger Corps, FH is able to provide children with desperately needed services, send relief supplies to countries around the world, respond to man-made and natural disasters, provide communities with solutions to economic problems, address and provide solutions to pressing health issues, stimulate agricultural development, offer skills training, and provide spiritual nourishment through the Gospel.
FH is committed to providing not only short-term relief for pressing problems, but also long-term solutions that create independently thriving communities.
Philosophy of Ministry
FH’s philosophy of ministry is summarized in its “Vision of a Community” thesis. The major theme of the “Vision of a Community” is that of “Holistic Ministry.” In such a ministry it is the whole person, body and soul, whom Christians should value and assist. By extension, the local church is to be more than a spiritual conclave for believers. The church, as a “holistic ministry,” is integrated into the life of the community, and ministers to it physically and spiritually. The idea of holistic ministry is a response to the fundamental question: “If we are successful in God’s eyes in the work we do within a community, what does that community look like when we leave?” The answer given by FH, in its “Vision” statement is five-fold:
- The community will be equipped to progress beyond meeting its basic needs
- There will be a growing group of Christians within the community, and they will:
- Love God and one another
- Manifest the fruit of the Spirit
- Reach out to serve others
In this vision, the practical and the spiritual come together, as the church begins to operate out of the center of the community, rather than at the edges. The church will minister to believers and unbelievers. By providing for the community’s physical needs, the church will be modeling Christian love, and will be in a unique position to challenge the false beliefs that hold people in bondage. Christian leaders from within the community are to be trained to propagate FH’s philosophy and work, so that when FH leaves the community the progress made in that community will be sustainable. By this method, FH hopes to build strong, self-sustaining communities with the church at the center of social improvements and spiritual development.