News from FFCC!

June 1, 2012

FOOD PACKAGING EVENT UPDATES

Looking Forward To An Active Summer of Packing Meals!

Over the coming weeks, FFCC will partner with Creekside Elementary (June 1st) and the Poway Cub Scouts (June 15th) for our 36th and 37th Food Packaging Events. These two private events are set to pack another 15,000 meals!
Our next event that will be open for public registration is sponsored by Real Living Real Estate and is planned for July 27, 2012. More details to come in June!

ATTENTION SAN DIEGO COMMUNITY! If you belong to a church, business, or organization that would like to partner with FFCC to further this food packaging work, contact Phil Harris (philffcc@san.rr.com) or Tina Socha (tina.socha@san.rr.com).

Click here to view FFCC's 2012 Food Packaging Event Calendar

DON'T FORGET!

Your donations make a difference! At 25 cents/meal, $20 provides 80 meals to hungry people here in North County and around the world!

Click here to calculate how many meals your planned donation can provide!

LOCAL FRIDAY NIGHT FUN HELPS SUPPORT SELF-SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAMS IN TANZANIA

JOIN US! Cruising Grand Ave in Escondido is a long standing tradition in San Diego County. This summer, one of our FFCC community members, Dave Geary, is partnering with the Escondido Kiwanis Club and hosting a BBQ every Friday night during the Cruisin Grand Event. The money raised from the BBQ will go to FFCC to purchase computers & supporting equipment for an internet café that will provide the necessary resources to make our Childrens' Center in Singida Town, Tanzania self-sustainable.

The goal is to raise $15,000. There are two ways you can support this great effort.

Dave is looking for a few FFCC volunteers to come and help at the BBQ each Friday night during the summer. If you & your family would like to volunteer to help, contact Dave Geary at (760) 802-3945.
Another way you can help is to spread the word about this fund raising effort to your friends & family. Invite them to come to East Grand Avenue in Escondido, 92027 between 5 pm & 9 pm on any Friday night through September and to visit Dave Geary's BBQ for a delicious burger. Their support will benefit a great cause!

DISTRICT COMMISSIONER MABITI THANKS FFCC

Below is the translation of a speech given in February 2012 by Tanzania's District Commissioner Mabiti at the presentation of the tractor and trailer to Chardeleco, the organization that works with lepers. Those present included village members from Nkungi, leaders of Chardeleco and the lepers who will directly benefit from our gift, as well as some FFCC volunteers who were visiting Tanzania at the time.

I am extremely pleased and honored to be here today to share this historical and pleasant event of handing over and inauguration of the Tractor and special Trailer that has been donated to your community by FFCC from California in the US.

I came here to join hands with the guest of honor and to prove that the government leadership in Singida Region is one team. I came here also to celebrate with you and congratulate Phil Harris and his team of good-hearted people from FFCC who have contributed the Tractor and Trailer to you.

Let me tell you that it takes really committed people to cross oceans and mountains to come here and present those valuable assets to you. They have left behind them their beloved families. They have left behind them a very comfortable life and opted to stay with you and share life with you in this poor environment. They have made many more sacrifices that are not easy to see and measure.

The value of their contribution is added by the fact that our world is just passing through a very serious economic crisis. Big companies have crumbled down even in the United States resulting in a sudden fall of the standard of living to millions of people. The FFCC Team did not choose to assist them. Instead, they decided to come to Africa, Tanzania, Nkungi village. Have you ever asked yourselves this question; why you and not others?

I am asking you to be grateful to FFCC for choosing to assist Nkungi community; and the best way of doing that is by using carefully and maintain the Tractor and the Trailer. I pray that you overcome all temptations to divide you in order to remain united. The tractor should should not be an agent of disunity.

I pray that FFCC continue to support Nkungi community tomorrow and the years to come through those who are being empowered today through education.

God bless us all.

Thank you to all FFCC supporters! It is because of you that we are able to extend such blessings to people in such great need!

AZUSA PACIFIC'S TEAM IS
BUSY AT WORK IN TANZANIA

Sean Harris and Lenna Madden are leading a group of APU students in Tanzania this summer. The first APU team departed in mid-May and will continue work through mid-June. An FFCC team will join the APU group on June 18th. Several will continue work through the first part of August. Below is an update just received from Sean.

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week we have been working with the Tanzania Institute of Accountancy (TIA) and it has been amazing! We met with the administrators and some students who are a part of their student government and planned the week out. We were pretty maxed out every day doing something with the school and the other students. The first day we did some work around the campus, picking up trash and mowing the lawn the old fashion way, with slashers that cut the grass down by hand. Then in the afternoon we did a panel Q & A where the students asked us questions about literally everything. They asked us about our relations with the Middle East, our stance on homosexual marriage, why heaven was above and hell was below, and so many other questions that filled up a 3 hour time slot.

The next day we had the opportunity to plant some trees with the students to beautify the campus even more. We then were able to take about 15 students to the Children's community center in Singida and let them see what that was all about. They were able to play with the students and serve alongside the staff there. They were all so impressed with the facility and amazed at the kind of work that was happening there. That evening we gave some speeches and had some more questions that we answered about various topics.

On Thursday, I taught an hour class in the morning about the principles of marketing which went really well. That afternoon we played basketball and volleyball against the colleges team. We surprisingly won in basketball,26-24 and lost in volleyball pretty bad. Friday we were able to go to an orphanage that takes care of special needs children and it was a great time experiencing all of that with the team and the students, most of them not having ever been there before.

That evening we had an end of the week celebration where the students and admin celebrated our time with them. We were all given some Tanzanian gifts and we all really felt close to the students after spending the entire week together. We are now getting ready to head to Nkungi for the next couple weeks, working on constructing a teachers house, installing water filters, and essentially doing whatever we can with the village, preparing the way for the San Diego team to come and join Lenna and I in just a couple of short weeks!

Thank you for all your prayers!

Sean

POWAY HIGH SENIOR PROJECT MAKES A HUGE IMPACT TO SAVE LIVES

Garrett Spain reflects on his experience visiting Haiti with FFCC.

Going to Haiti, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I really didn't know what to expect and I was completely caught off guard by everything I saw. I knew that I would see poverty, hunger, and all of that, but the devastation I witnessed when we arrived just blew me away. The experience of going to Haiti was life changing to say the least. It put everything into perspective and made me truly grateful and appreciative of everything and everyone I have in my life. I grew as a person while becoming close with my group around me and the Haitians we met. As we helped with the construction of the orphanage, visited orphanages, and installed water filters, I realized how lucky we are to live in such a great place. Of all the things we did, the water filter installation process really touched me. The fact that we were literally saving lives with the gift of clean water was such an incredible concept to me.

Coming back, I was hit immediately with school and with that, came Poway High School's senior project. With the touching and memorable experiences of Haiti still fresh in my mind, I knew immediately that I wanted to incorporate the water filters and Impact H2O into my project. I then set out with a goal to raise money to provide these water filters for families in Haiti. I used FFCC's food packing events as my main way to fundraise and the people of the San Diego community were very generous.

I was able to raise $1350, and I know that money will go to help a lot of people desperate for clean water. The experience of going to Haiti has changed my life so much and it has opened up so many doors. Phil and FFCC do so many great things that affect change in so many places and lives. I recommend this trip to anyone and everyone and I thank Phil, FFCC, and the community for supporting me in my senior project endeavors.