Open Your Hearts To Haiti Is a 100% Donated Event

The event encourages families and kids to get involved

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Feb 04, 2010, 03:10 ET

LIGHTHOUSE POINT, Fla., Feb. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Just days after the earthquake struck Haiti a group of individuals decided to create a 100% grassroots event and everyone agreed that in order to participate everyone had to donate their time, services and any costs associated with it.

The Lighthouse Point Yacht & Racquet Club donated its location for the event. And, the remarkable thing about it is they closed their traditional Sunday Brunch for the day. The employees, many of them with roots in Haiti, volunteered their time to work that day for free. Backus Turner International created the event and donated its time to get public service announcements, create all the graphics, generate publicity and underwrite the costs associated with this in addition to hitting the streets looking for sponsors. Backus Turner also agreed to provide every restaurant that participated in the event a free ad in its publication, "The Light, Lighthouse Point News & Beyond".

The Open Your Hearts To Haiti event is being held at The Lighthouse Point Yacht & Racquet Club on February 21, 2010, from Noon to 3 PM, to benefit Food For The Poor. The admission for the food and entertainment is $50 per person which goes directly to Food For The Poor. Kids 12 and under are admitted free and are being asked to bring canned evaporated milk and baby formula to send to Haiti.

Everyone involved in raising money for the event is a volunteer and everything at the event is being donated by individuals, local businesses, employees of area restaurants and the Yacht Club.

Restaurants donating their food to date include some of South Florida's finest: Cafe Maxx Restaurant in Pompano Beach; Chops Lobster Bar in Boca Raton; City Fish Market in Boca Raton; Hot Tomatoe in Deerfield Beach; Le Bistro Restaurant in Lighthouse Point; Lighthouse Point Yacht & Racquet Club; Sicilian Oven Restaurant in Lighthouse Point; Sullivan's Restaurant in Lighthouse Point; and, Wine Watch Catering Company in Ft. Lauderdale.

There will be live entertainment for adults and kids alike and all types of activities. One of the key elements of the event is also educational. The Lighthouse Point Police Department and The Lighthouse Point Fire Rescue will be on hand to demonstrate to the children how search and rescue works in the case of emergencies like Haiti's earthquake or even a South Florida hurricane. Area schools and churches are asked to bring the kids out to this special event. "Open Your Hearts to Haiti will not be a singular effort but a series of ongoing ones. The people and children of Haiti will need our help for years to come and we must understand this and dedicate ourselves to helping them for the long term," stated Roberta Backus Turner.

"We are so proud of the Lighthouse Point Yacht Club for opening its facilities to us and for the staff to volunteer to work for free. And, the more we reach out to people the more they are impressed that this is all being done in a few weeks and with everything being donated. We hope this will attract more individuals and businesses to help us on this and future events we create to help feed and house the many Haitians who need our help. Even the cost of distributing this press release is being donated by PR Newswire," stated Rene Turner Mahfood, one of the main organizers.

Food For The Poor (FFP) is an interdenominational Christian relief and development organization working primarily in 17 countries in the Caribbean, Latin America, as well as the United States, to assist the poorest of the poor. Food For The Poor does much more than feed the millions of hungry individuals. They drill life-giving water wells; provide lifesaving medical care; build homes for families; provide skills training; and give children an education that will enable them to break free from the cycle of poverty that has ensnared generations. In a survey of the 200 largest U.S. charities, Forbes magazine has given Food For The Poor outstanding ratings of 97% in charitable commitment and 98% in fundraising efficiency. In the latest available ratings, Food For The Poor received the highest possible grade, four stars, from Charity Navigator and five stars from Ministry Watch. The Chronicle of Philanthropy has ranked Food For The Poor as the largest international charity in the U.S.

For more information, visit www.OpenYourHeartsToHaiti.com.

SOURCE Food For The Poor