For Immediate Release                                                                                                                                                          Contact:  Jennifer Haefeli

June 5, 2006                                                                                                                                                                                           202 530 1694

 

 

PREM RAWAT FOUNDATION DONATES $25,000

FOR WFP’S EARTHQUAKE RELIEF OPERATIONS IN INDONESIA

 

Washington, DC – The Prem Rawat Foundation donated $25,000 this week to support the World Food Program’s earthquake relief operations in Indonesia.  These funds will help the World Food Program (WFP) provide emergency food aid to earthquake survivors who lost their homes and livelihoods to the disaster. 

 

“We are grateful to The Prem Rawat Foundation for this generous gift and their ongoing support,” said Karen Sendelback, President and CEO of Friends of the World Food Program.  “They have been such a wonderful partner in our work to get food to those in need.”

 

The Prem Rawat Foundation has been a steady supporter of WFP’s work over the years, providing generous support for WFP’s tsunami relief efforts in Indonesia, its emergency operations in Niger and Guatemala, and its global school feeding programs, among other operations. 

 

"We are pleased to play a part in helping get aid to those in need,” said Linda Pascotto, President of The Prem Rawat Foundation.  “Our message is a message of peace – and where there is hunger, there can be no peace.”

 

Approximately 100,000 people are in need of food aid following the 6.3 earthquake that hit the Indonesian island of Java on May 27, 2006.  Within 36 hours of the disaster, WFP was on the ground rushing emergency food and medicine to earthquake survivors. To respond quickly, WFP drew from nearby food stocks and aircraft serving areas hit by last year’s tsnaumi. WFP is also leading the efforts to coordinate food distribution with its partners, including non-governmental organizations and local authorities.

 

Over the next six months, WFP will provide food for 100,000 people, 40,000 of them children. This life-saving food will be critical in the weeks and months ahead for people who have lost everything. Early estimates indicate that approximately $5 million will be required to meet these short-term food needs.

 

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Friends of WFP is a non-profit organization dedicated to building the public commitment and political leadership necessary to alleviate world hunger. For more information, visit www.friendsofwfp.org.  

 

The World Food Program (WFP) is the largest international food aid organization in the world and the United Nations’ frontline agency in the fight against hunger.  Every year, WFP feeds an average of 90 million people, two-thirds of them children, in over 80 countries.  For more information, visit www.wfp.org. 

 

            For more information on The Prem Rawat Foundation, visit http://tprf.org/humanitarian_initiatives/.