Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market Supports Hurricane Relief Effort In Haiti
October 25, 2016 | 2 min to read
When Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti earlier this month, it devastated the already-vulnerable country and claimed the lives of over 1,000 men, women, and children. Entire communities have been decimated, leaving more than 175,000 without homes and an estimated 1.4 million in need of urgent assistance. Many of those left homeless are smallholders whose crops have been destroyed and farms torn apart. With little to no remaining community infrastructure, they are struggling to pick up the pieces of their livelihoods and food production remains stalled.
The Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market (PWPM) is joining forces with New Story, an innovative crowdfunding nonprofit, to rebuild Haiti and bring stability back to agricultural communities on the island.
With just $6,000, New Story and its Haitian partners, can train and contract local labor to build a permanent, durable, and safe 388-square foot home for a displaced family. The homes are designed by experienced builders with input from the community, and include infrastructure for clean water, solar power, and education. Using resilient materials ensures that the homes can withstand future disaster. In fact, every one of the more than 200 Haiti homes built by New Story before the storm survived intact.
“By contributing our resources to help rebuild homes, PWPM hopes to bring some stability to the lives of displaced families,” says John Vena of John Vena, Inc., chair of the market’s Marketing Committee, who organized the campaign. “We have partners and suppliers who have been affected by this terrible disaster, and we feel that this is an important opportunity to support the people of Haiti so they can focus on rebuilding what’s really important: their lives, communities, and farms.”
Please join the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market in our quest to give the people of Haiti a foundation for a brighter future. 100% of donations will hire locals, source materials locally, and build a life-changing home for a family in need. Through New Story’s transparent donation platform, all donors will receive a video of the family their contribution helped moving into their new home.
To learn more about the effort to rebuild Haiti after Hurricane Matthew or to donate to the PWPM campaign, visit: www.pwpm.net/haiti.
Please help us to rewrite this story of anguish into a story of opportunity.
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About the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market (PWPM)
Opened in 2011 in Philadelphia, PA, PWPM is the world's largest fully-enclosed, fully-refrigerated wholesale produce terminal. The facility's main building is ¼ mile long and 686,000 square feet and offers state-of-the-art cold chain protection. PWPM houses 24 independent produce distributors that carry a full range of fruits and vegetables including local, ethnic, specialty, and commodities. The market is open to the public and serves all types of foodservice and grocery retail businesses from Florida to Canada. Find out more at www.PWPM.net.
About New Story
New Story is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that transforms slums into communities one home at a time with video proof. Learn more about their innovative model and life-changing work at www.newstorycharity.org.
Source: Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market (PWPM)