Pulse of the Caribbean

#34 Fundraising for Change: Barbara Mari Pennock’s Philanthropic Journey through Heritage and Community Development

• Pulse of the Caribbean

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What if your heritage and personal experiences could shape the future of an entire region? Join us as we welcome the inspiring Barbara Marie Pennock, Senior Director of Major and Principal Gifts for Food for the Poor Inc. Barbara's unique journey through philanthropy and marketing in the Caribbean is both captivating and insightful. 

Barbara's transition from a vibrant life in Puerto Rico to a meaningful career in the nonprofit sector in Florida is both heartfelt and motivating.  With ongoing projects in countries like Jamaica, Haiti, Guyana, and Honduras, she invites listeners to join their mission, emphasizing the power of the Caribbean diaspora in making a tangible impact. Tune in to uncover the resilience and potential of the Caribbean and learn how you can contribute to this vital cause.

Kysha - Pulse of the Caribbean:

Barbara Marie Pennock, senior Director of Major and Principal Gifts for Food for the Poor Inc.

Kysha - Pulse of the Caribbean:

Former St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Senior Philanthropist Advisor, principal Gifts for Eastern Florida and Puerto Rico, and a former marketing promotion and business development consultant, is our guest on today's Pulse of the Caribbean podcast.

Kysha - Pulse of the Caribbean:

Welcome to the Pulse of the Caribbean podcast. Welcome to the Pulse of the Caribbean podcast. I'm Keisha Blyden. Barbara Marie Pennock, senior Director of Major and Principal Gifts for Food for the Poor Inc. Former St Jude Research Hospital, senior Philanthropist Advisor, Principal Gifts for Eastern Florida and Puerto Rico, and former Marketing Promotions and Business Development Consultant, is our guest on today's Pulse of the Caribbean podcast. Throughout the Caribbean and the United States, barbara has demonstrated an exceptional ability to develop and implement extremely effective development operations and event strategies in both the nonprofit and commercial sectors. She led collaborations with clients and other stakeholders to develop the brand strategy and vision and she's carried out concepts and tactics. She has developed and implemented public relations events and other brand strategies for significant corporate, nonprofit, tourism and government organizations throughout and across cultures, to accomplish positive outcomes. She has developed advisory boards and donor bases throughout her career. Barbara is fluent in Spanish and English and with that we say welcome Barbara.

Barbara Mari:

Hey Keisha, how are you?

Kysha - Pulse of the Caribbean:

It is wonderful to see you.

Barbara Mari:

I know it's been such a long time. I would say too long, but anyway, thanks for inviting me. I appreciate the invitation to be part of the Pulse of the Caribbean.

Kysha - Pulse of the Caribbean:

It's a pleasure to be here with you today Wonderful, and it's so wonderful to have you. So we are the Pulse of the Caribbean. So we know that you do have background in Puerto Rico. But tell us what makes you Caribbean in your own words.

Barbara Mari:

Oh, my God, I would say that for me, the Caribbean is the best part of the world, if you will. I think that for all of us, as I was thinking of what makes me Caribbean, like my family's, migrated to the Caribbean in the late 1800s and I really couldn't have been more blessed to have been born in this part of the world. I'm a fourth generation Puerto Rican. I've always told people that when I go to Puerto Rico, our beaches smell different. You know just that smell of being home. Right, and I experienced that throughout the Caribbean. When I'm in your homeland, which is the US Virgin Islands, I feel the same way, and when I go to the Dominican Republic, I feel the same way. When I go to Jamaica, I feel the same way. It's just that island vibe and we're very proud to have been born in the Caribbean and been able to do a lot of things in the Caribbean, if you will, and been able to do a lot of things in the Caribbean if you will.

Kysha - Pulse of the Caribbean:

Yes, it is. It is a wonderful place to be, born, to live and certainly an amazing place to visit. For several years, before working in your capacity as a consultant and director of major and principal gifts in the nonprofit realm, you began work in marketing, events, promotion and business development. Tell us about your history and some of the signature events. You began work in marketing, events, promotion and business development.

Barbara Mari:

Tell us about your history and some of the signature events that you've lifted over the years, Actually that's how you and I met.

Barbara Mari:

Certainly it is. I met when Banco Popular called me and wanted to have a signature event in the Virgin Islands and when they called me I said, sure, I'm on board. So we created the ultimate flavors of the islands. And in Puerto Rico I was co-founder of Saborea Puerto Rico and I would say that what really drove me to do those signature events in the Caribbean and work in the culinary world? Prior to having been a consultant, I was a director of catering at hotels and I always saw the incredible work that chefs were doing in our kitchens and how much pride they had for the cooking of the islands right. And I said, you know, we don't have signature events like other parts of the world that showcase our culinary right, our gastronomic scene. So I started by visiting several events around the world, kind of grasping the best out of all of them, and then I came up with this concept for Puerto Rico and we started it. You know the first one was in 2008.

Barbara Mari:

I retired from the event after five years and the Puerto Rico Hotel and Tourism Association continued with the event and just creating that incredible partnership with between. The Puerto Rico Hotel and Tourism Association continued with the event and just creating that incredible partnership between the Puerto Rico Hotel and Tourism Association and the government of Puerto Rico, specifically the Puerto Rico Tourism Company and the private sector to bring together chefs from the islands and also chefs from around the world. It was a strategic partnership that we did with Food Network and we were able to bring people like Cat Cora and Jose Garces and Ted Allen and Ann Burrell. So it was, it was definitely. It put the Caribbean on the map and after that we started Ultimate Flavors of the Islands.

Barbara Mari:

I also worked in countries like Panama, colombia, argentina to kind of help them with their culinary tourism platforms. So I would say that's where that came from. I also worked in several sports tourism events and I was part of the inaugural World Baseball Classic in Puerto Rico back in 2006. And that was a lot of fun. And then from there I co-produced Caribbean Baseball Series in Puerto Rico. So just those signatures, those signature events that really positioned the Caribbean. And I also want to mention that at one moment in time I also helped with the world's best 10K in Puerto Rico, which unfortunately is no longer alive. I hope they revive it soon. I think that a lot of the event scene has suffered with the pandemic and the hurricanes.

Kysha - Pulse of the Caribbean:

And, with that being said, with all the signature events, because you said it placed Puerto Rico on the map and what did you enjoy most about these events and what is like one of the most memorable things that you can say about some of the signature events, or if there's a particular one that is close and dear to your heart?

Barbara Mari:

My favorite ones were Ultimate Flavors of the Islands in the Virgin Islands and Sabore a Puerto Rico.

Barbara Mari:

Because certainly just that passion that I had in my spirit to bring to life something, you know, something bigger than than than me, that could bless so many people and see the faces of joy during and after the event and asking us are we going to do this again next year? And just that sense of accomplishment when you see all that, the joy, the accomplishment and the positioning, you know, of our nations at a different level, right, and I think that that's kind of what I would say that is was the best part of it. Just seeing the faces from both events. People opened their businesses. It was a melting pot for people saying, oh, I can do more. I remember that some people we put them on a track so that they could take courses at Puerto Rico Department of Economic Development. So we did help a lot of people open those open their businesses back then and that's a blessing because you're giving people, you know, you're giving people a livelihood and you're giving them a better life.

Kysha - Pulse of the Caribbean:

Wonderful and we know that, of course, previously you were based in Puerto Rico home, but since then you've moved to Florida. So tell us about your decision to move to Florida and your decision to work in the nonprofit arena after putting aside or retiring from your promotion and events, signature events, marketing.

Barbara Mari:

It was a very difficult decision, keisha. It really was. I didn't want to leave Puerto Rico, but I had no choice. There was no. You know, the economic downturn on the island was just you know, it was just too much.

Barbara Mari:

I came back to Florida in 2015. I had been in Florida before, went to college here and I was doing some pro bono work for St Jude Children's Research Hospital in Puerto Rico. I helped the Puerto Rico director, edna Schmidt. I helped kickstart a gala in Puerto Rico, and I did that pro bono. I did it because my father died of lung cancer and I wanted to give back to cancer patients and I helped her start a gala that was called Chincho Rio Chic and it was also around chefs and around cooking chefs getting together to help kids with cancer. And from there, edna one day tells me Barbara I see that you know you're struggling. We have a couple of positions in St Jude in Florida. Would you be interested? I can talk. You know, I can talk to our area executive director. And I said, sure, I'm open to anything and that's how it. That's how it came about.

Barbara Mari:

So I think that for me it was difficult because my father had died in 2010 and my mother didn't want to come to Florida, so so what I had to do is like leave an infrastructure in place where my cousins helped me with my mom even though she was in perfect health back then Just family members and neighbors helping me with my mom locally, and then I would go back to puerto rico like every three or four months to visit my mom and that's it.

Barbara Mari:

But it was a hard decision, I. I think that for all of us that are part of the caribbean diasporano that we live over here in in the mainland, um, it's very hard for us to leave. You know the places we were born and just the people we went to school with and you know just that that culture. Like you know the guy at the bakery in Puerto Rico, like where I had my coffee, everybody every morning knew my name, like we would have a conversation every morning. And you know you do miss those things because you've been going there since you were kids, so everybody knows you, and I think just that what I miss the most is just that familiarity of everybody saying hello all the time, because you know there's a lot of people here in Florida and our islands are much more smaller, so the communities are smaller and we know each other, so that's what I miss the most.

Kysha - Pulse of the Caribbean:

And that is so interesting where you said because of your interest or your passion, based on, I guess, your father, that led you to doing work with St Jude's Children's Research Hospital and then with that, of course, came the opportunity where you were able to, of course, go on board for a new opportunity where you were the principal gifts for Eastern Florida and Puerto Rico, for eastern Florida and Puerto Rico. So tell us about that experience with working with St Jude and the joy that it gave you from working with them not just pro bono but just being fully on board with them when that opportunity presented itself.

Barbara Mari:

Yeah, when I started with St Jude, the first thing I did was I was a senior regional development director and what I did is they hired me to restructure and reimagine their signature events in South Florida. Imagine their signature events in South Florida. You know the events weren't, you know they weren't raising the amount of dollars that they wanted and they were kind of thinking on eliminating them. And I said no, like you know, when I had the conversation with the area executive director, I'm like no, you don't have to eliminate them, let's work on them and let's see how we can make this work. So we merged a couple of events, because they did have a lot of events. And then we, you know, we, we, from there, we, we, we created the largest multicultural gala for St Jude in in in Miami. You know, know that Miami is a very diverse city and has people from, I would say, almost every part of the world. So we created an incredible multicultural gala where people from every, I would say every single country were there, single country were there. And just seeing those events flourish and double and triple numbers in fundraising was incredible and what? There's two things that gravitated me to. I've always done things in excellence, but you know, my why was really important and my why was I want to honor my dad, um, everything that he went through when he had lung cancer and, um, I remember that my dad always used to tell me that if I'm going through hell during my, during my, during my chemos and my radio you know my radio therapies I can't fathom what a kid goes through. So that's kind of what, what what? That was my why and also, uh, just that's what fueled me Right. And then secondly, um, just being able to turn around those events so that they could raise as much money as they could to, you know, to fight childhood cancer.

Barbara Mari:

After that I got promoted and I helped. It was a couple of us that we started. We helped back then the senior director of major and principal gifts at St Jude his name was John Rich. We helped him start out a principal gifts department and basically what we did there is we worked with high wealth donors and people that want to do strategic a difference in, you know, in just finding the cure to cancer.

Barbara Mari:

And certainly and I don't know if you know this stat I would say that most of the research dollars that the government has go to adult, go to adult research and children's research has like a sliver of a two or 3% of that. So if, if, if, if St Jude didn't exist, you know there would be an incredible gap. So I, I, I knew that my, that my work was important and um, and just know that every like, specifically at St Jude, um, there's children from all around the world there, it's not only the U S, there's children from the Caribbean, there's children from Central and South America and I would say, in a gist, it was a great experience. St Jude is one of the largest nonprofits out there and they do everything in excellence. So it was a fantastic experience.

Kysha - Pulse of the Caribbean:

It certainly sounds that way and, of course, your why, and also the noted numbers of dollars that are contributed to children and research in the area of cancer. Now today you're now with Food for the Poor Inc. Which is a charity that provides food, housing, medical aid and education to people in Latin America and the Caribbean. Tell us about your decision to work for Food for the Poor Inc. At.

Barbara Mari:

Food for the Poor, I really wanted to go back to working in my region. Okay, my heart was like, oh my God, like I really want to work in Latin America and the Caribbean and use all my knowledge that I've gained over the years to help the people of Latin America and the Caribbean. I started at Food for the Poor in April of 2023. And in June I went to Honduras on a mission trip. I think that our name, food for the Poor, doesn't do justice to everything that we do at Food for the Poor. Food for the Poor is about 45 minutes away from my home, so I remember having gone by there several times and saying to myself oh, there's a food bank there. So I think that in everybody's mind, because of the word, because it's called food for the poor, they think it's a food bank, but it's much more than that. We do feed people. The main focus is 10 areas. It's hunger relief, food security, water, sanitation and hygiene, agriculture, community development, education, economic empowerment, health, emergency preparedness and response, emergency preparedness and response, child sponsorship and outreach to marginalized groups. So when I went to Honduras, it was we went to visit, I would say, about maybe seven or eight sustainable community developments and what I saw there was people that want to be better, right, I think that there's a total misperception that people that live in these countries that are underserved and that have these dictator governments like Honduras has want to be, you know, want to live like that. But they don't. They want to progress, they want to be better, and any little thing that you do for them they appreciate so much and the joy that comes, you know, the smiles on their faces just because you did one small thing for them is incredible.

Barbara Mari:

Everything touched me in Honduras and I was in Guatemala last week and I'll talk about that in a minute but in Honduras, I think one of the things that touched me the most was, as a woman is. We went to a truck driving school that we built, you know, maybe about four or five years ago, and while we were there, there was a group, there was a cohort of about, I would say, maybe 20, 25 women that were learning how to be truck drivers, and the smiles on their faces because they had this opportunity to learn a new skill, right, so that then they could get a job. And two or three weeks later they graduated and then they started getting their jobs. So just giving those women a livelihood and some income so that they can sustain their families is such an incredible way to empower the people of Latin America, right? And then I would say that the second thing that impacted me the most was the children in the schools We've built. I don't have the number of schools On this trip I visited at least five schools in Honduras that we built and the children, incredible.

Barbara Mari:

They want to learn, they embrace learning, and just being in school makes them happy. And I remember when and I'm going to tell you a small anecdote here when I went to Cuba and Cuba's part of the Caribbean too, right, when I went to Cuba in 2008,. One of the things that amazed me the most is how happy they are, right, even though they're going through incredible turmoil and just incredible anguish in their countries, they make the best of it, right, and they're happy people and they're happy to welcome you to their country. So I had created this little line that said, sometimes we have everything and we don't, you will get out of the circumstance that you are, and and and. What I've known, what I've noticed, is, when there's a will, there's a way, and that's what I've experienced. That's what I experienced when I went to Honduras, in in in last June.

Barbara Mari:

Um, and you know, they have these different agricultural projects that are income generating activities, and just the way, we went to a facility where they have a welding facility and they make their own bunk beds, you know, for the houses that we're building. So what they're doing is they're built, they're creating their own sustainability while working in their communities. There was a lady that had a bakery, another one that had the that was making homemade chips, like the homemade plantain chips. So, and then we went to this little market because there's like a. There's a fort in Honduras and in front of the fort, when people go visit the fort, there's a little souvenir shop and everything's handmade. And also we help those people With their income generating activities. So it's such a blessing to be able to be intentionally raising money to better the lives of our people in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Barbara Mari:

And I wanted to point out also, keisha, that we do serve countries in the Caribbean like Jamaica, dominican Republic and Haiti, and other ones that share the Caribbean Sea shoreline, which are Guyana, honduras, guatemala and Colombia. So half of the countries that we serve, we serve 15 countries. Half of the countries that we serve are part of the Caribbean region. So you know it's such a blessing, most of these people, when we go in and assess a community and begin to help them, most people are living in, you know, like they build their little home around the tree or they build their little home around the rocks or they live in a cave and it's you know it's hard. There are still people in our countries that are living like this and with no water.

Barbara Mari:

So when I went to Guatemala last year, we were assessing a community up in the mountains called Montefar and I was able to see like the beginning stages of change in a community where people are still living in these shacks, where people are still living in these shacks and then, and then they make the walls out of bamboo and then they just recycle some sink to put on on on the top of their uh, you know, on the top of the uh, of the bamboo walls that they make Um and I, you know I was there with three, with three, with three major donors, and um, they, they, they were fully vested and you know, when they saw all that, when they really saw firsthand the work that we were doing and that we were intending to do in that community. They said, my goodness, we're on board. So we're going to start building 35 homes in that community and the homes that we build are made out of block, out of cement block, and it just gives them safe housing. It gives them safe housing because most of the people, like you know, they get wet at night when, if it rains, and things like that. So it's it's really it's no way to live, if you will. So I think that that those people were so happy we were there visiting them, right, and they've been waiting for a long time and just just being.

Barbara Mari:

You know, we were there with our partners. We do have in-country partners. We were there with Caritas, guatemala, and just the people of Caritas that's. The Caritas is the arm of the Catholic church that helps people in poverty, and just being able to be part of bringing joy to those children and those families in these countries is just incredible. I would say you know you never. You know, if you went to Guatemala and you stayed only in the city, you wouldn't even believe that in the mountains and, you know, in the inroads of the country there are there's so much poverty and that people are still living, living in, in, in shacks um, so it was. It was an incredible contrast of what goes on in guatemala city, which is a pretty modern city, and then traveling two or three hours into the mountains and seeing what's happening there. And one thing that we identified when we were there because it was pouring, raining when we were there is just that part. You know the roads were wet and there's, you know, some roads are, are are, some roads have been built, but some are still dirt roads. So those dirt roads are very, very dangerous when it rains and there have been several mudslides. So, just deep diving into helping these people, our CEO, ed Rain, we've created a new strategic plan where all you know, our work is going to be around the sustainable community development, where the 10 focus areas that I mentioned before are going to be taking into, are going to be taken into consideration when building a community, not only giving them a home and giving and helping them with food, but also helping them be sustainable, and usually we stay with a community around five years Once they're sustainable, we just monitor them, as you know, as it goes on. So right now, I was also part when I went to Guatemala of a. I was also part, when I went to Guatemala, of the inauguration of a water facility in El Tablon, sustainable Community Development.

Barbara Mari:

These people have been without water forever and when they saw that water come out they were elated. They were so happy. You know we take water for granted because we have it every day, right, and they don't. They have to walk, you know, a mile or two, or maybe sometimes three and four, to go get water. And you know, and, and usually that water is, is, is, is, is not potable, but you know it's not, uh, potable water it's, you know it's, it's water that's contaminated. So everybody, like when, when that first water came out of that, you know, out of that tube, everybody was so happy that finally that community has water.

Barbara Mari:

And just, you know we take for granted taking a shower every night.

Barbara Mari:

You know things like that.

Barbara Mari:

So this has just made me more cognizant of what some people go through in the countries in our region and how much you know, how much we can help them just with something that we take for granted every day, like water, or maybe opening their little store so that they can be sustainable and building them a safe home so they can live in. And if it rains at night, you don't get wet, and that your home has a floor, not a dirt floor, so those are things that kind of keep me grounded in the food for the poor mission. Um, certainly, um, um, I'm so happy, um, to be doing this work. Uh, happy and excited because, um, even you know, even though I've only been here a little bit over a year and a half, almost two years, I've been able to see the progress, and nobody wants to live like that. These people are resilient, they want to be better and they want to be better and they want to be better, and anything that we can do to help them is going to be a lifeline for them.

Kysha - Pulse of the Caribbean:

And that is amazing in terms of the joy and, most importantly, like you said, the joy that it brings you, because certainly you want to uplift people, and the other part of it is that when Food for the Poor goes in you mentioned that you look for building that community.

Kysha - Pulse of the Caribbean:

You stay with them for a period of five years to make sure, then, that everything that is invested into that community is sustainable. So you turn over the keys, you lift and help them, and then you give them the keys and you turn it over so they continue to work and build upon the foundation then that was laid to uplift those communities and the people in those communities. Communities, and that entails homes, building of schools. We noted that one of the opportunities available for persons to give is by means of volunteering. So tell us what that involves as a volunteer, going on a mission trip, such as the one that you recently went on, and that process of volunteering and going into countries, as it is perhaps a collaboration, and also the helping hands that also assist. So tell us about some of those ways that volunteers assist on mission trips.

Barbara Mari:

We do have and the 2025 schedule should be up pretty soon for mission trips. We're done with our mission trips. We had one to Guatemala a couple of weeks ago and one to Honduras this calendar year. Mission trips start again I would say, late, you know in the late winter, early spring, and we usually have trips like to El Salvador, guatemala, honduras, jamaica, colombia, and basically what we do is we take, expose them to the day-to-day that, the that you know how the communities, you know how the communities run day-to-day right. In Jamaica, we have a program where the volunteers can help build a home in one day In Colombia as well. Also in Honduras, I was part of it was about 12 of us went to a community and fed a community. We also went to schools and gave some children some school supplies.

Barbara Mari:

So also here locally in Florida, the schedules for the mission trips integrate different volunteer opportunities. During the trip you can paint a home. Recently, last year, I would say at the end of November, there was a group of volunteers that went from one of the companies that supports us that took Christmas gifts. They took a Santa Claus, they took Christmas decorations to decorate the homes. So there's a whole bunch of things you can do and you can get creative and we can make it happen, or you can align with what we have, what we offer.

Barbara Mari:

And then also at our headquarters here in Coconut Creek, florida, which is in Broward County, we do have volunteer activities every week where people can come and pack hygiene kits, iv kits, different types of kits, food kits so that we can, food kits so that we can. You know we make these kits locally and then transport them to the countries that we serve. So there are many volunteer opportunities. That's not my area of expertise, but I'm in the fundraising part of it. But yes, we can. There are several volunteer opportunities that donors or people can engage in and certainly you will be a blessing to many people engaging in volunteerism.

Kysha - Pulse of the Caribbean:

Now your body of work. Of course, as you mentioned, it's not in terms of the volunteering, but you do participate in the mission trips so you get a bird's eye view of exactly how Food for the Poor Inc is assisting, so that message can be then shared with donors. So tell us about your work for major and principal gifts, what is needed as the work is ongoing and the need for major commitments in addition to the outreach for donations throughout the region and the Caribbean diaspora within the region and across America. So tell us about your body of work, some of the things that you do to to secure those principal guests, major and principal guests, as well as notable events hosted by Food for the Poor Inc to increase support.

Barbara Mari:

I have a team of 15 colleagues and basically what we're doing is we're engaging donors in strategic investments in these countries With the Caribbean diaspora and the diaspora from Latin America. We're not there yet. Our chief marketing officer, vivian Borja, has started and I would say it's been going on for about a year and a half a grassroots campaign, digital campaign around in Spanish, around the diaspora. But what I would say to the Caribbean, from people that have had to leave their countries and are living in the US and want to give back to the countries that they come from, to give us a call right, to give us a call and get engaged. It's something as simple as coming down on a Saturday or maybe a Wednesday or when you have a chance and we have a volunteer activity. Come and see the work that we're doing firsthand. Travel, go to a mission trip in one of the countries we serve so that you can see firsthand the work that we're doing, and then you decide where you want to engage in right where you want to engage in right.

Barbara Mari:

So basically, our job is to bring donors and constituents closer to our mission right In any way. I always say that maybe they can help us with talent, like they can volunteer or they can help us in another area right and also treasure. Yes, we do need money for the work that we're doing. Money is essential for the work that we're doing, but we're not only looking for money. We also have an area where churches can get involved in the work that we do. Right. We do Right and because a lot of our work also has to do with with lifting people up spiritually because the the transformation you know, transformation goes hand in hand we want to go. We want to be donor centric and we want to go where the donor's heart is Right. As I mentioned, I was in Guatemala last week with three donors Like their passion is seeing the joy in the faces of these people when they get their home, when they see their water. Every donor is different, so it's our job as advisors to find and to match the donor with what they want to do.

Kysha - Pulse of the Caribbean:

So it's about finding donors and matching them with areas and certainly connecting them with groups where they're passionate about. You mentioned it's about collaboration, because you do work within the communities. You do work with churches as well in terms of alliances and transforming lives, also spiritually, and you mentioned the areas, of course, that are within the Latin American region and in the Caribbean. You mentioned Jamaica and Haiti specifically, so is there thoughts of expansion to any other Caribbean countries where they may need any lift or helping hands?

Barbara Mari:

Yes, we also have disaster relief Mostly, you know, our area is known for its hurricanes, for its hurricanes. So we did help Puerto Rico after Maria and we you know, we were, you know, in Haiti, obviously, after the earthquakes. So we do have right now we're helping the Tampa Bay area in their disaster relief from the hurricane that just hit. There's a need and the area is very badly hit. Yes, we do show up, we do show up and we help. Last year the hurricane my God, I forgot the hurricane I think it was Ian that came in through Fort Myers we were on the ground also helping and right now, we're on the ground in the Tampa Bay area helping.

Barbara Mari:

There is opportunity and we're constantly adding new countries to our list of countries that we serve. So I do want to mention that we do have people on the ground in Jamaica, in Haiti and in Guyana. We also have people on the ground in Guatemala, specifically in Haiti, jamaica and Guyana. We have offices there. So we do have teams of people that are there all the time, like we have full-time staff there. In Honduras, we also have full-time staff and we partner. We do have in-country partners to help us, like we partner with other NGOs. I've always said that you can't do anything by yourself, right, and we have an amazing CEO, ed Rain, and he you know he's so intentional in partnering in the countries that we serve with the right in country partners. We have a fantastic partner in in Honduras called Saputo, and they're on the ground there, you know, in country, with Food for the Poor.

Kysha - Pulse of the Caribbean:

So we're also giving back by, you know, a lot of, so that they can have their income and they can be sustainable if someone wanted to find out more about food for the poor Inc and how they can contribute, even perhaps being a major donor, how should they go about making contact?

Barbara Mari:

If you want to volunteer, if you want to be a donor, if you want to sponsor a child, we do have a sponsorship program for children and with a donation of $34 a month, if you want to engage, now is a really good time at the end of the year. If you want to give back you've had a blessed year. You want to help us out, give us a call at 1-800-427-9104. Again, that is 1-800-427-9104. You can ask for the major gifts department, our office admin. Her name is Yora. You can give Yora a call and Yora can connect you with me or any one of the advisors and we'll be happy to talk to you about all the work that we're doing in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Barbara Mari:

And maybe you can join us for one of our kit packing events here at Food for the Poor. Maybe you can join us for a mission trip. Or right now we work with priority funding and right now we have in and around 54 funding priorities that we have to have funded by March 31st of 2025. So if you do want to engage in a strategic investment, in a strategic philanthropic investment, do give us a call. If you want to give back to your country or you just want to help someone in need and help lift up the people of Latin America and the Caribbean and give them a livelihood and help them get out of poverty. Give us a call Again. It's 1-800,. Let me get the number again.

Kysha - Pulse of the Caribbean:

So the number and the website site.

Barbara Mari:

Yeah, it's 1-800-427-9104. 1-800-427-9104. Our website is foodforthepoororg. Foodforthepoororg. And you can go to our website. Our phone number is on the website. And if you live in Florida, remember that we do have volunteer opportunities Sometime in 2025, we're going to be taking those volunteer opportunities on the road, probably towards the latter part of the year. If you're interested, if you have a company and you'd like to take one of the kit packing events to one of your, to your employees, you can also do that. We do have a very strong corporate social responsibility program. So if companies want to engage with that, right now we have. We have a company that has their Latin America and Caribbean operations based out of Miami and early next year they're going to have a kit packing event at their facility, at their headquarters. So there's different ways of engaging. Forward to talking to anybody that wants to engage in this, you know, in this mission of lifting children and families out of poverty. Just give us a call. Again, my name is Barbara Mari and I'm with Food for the Poor.

Kysha - Pulse of the Caribbean:

And Barbara, what is your life philosophy, what is?

Barbara Mari:

your life philosophy, my life philosophy. I would say that my life I'm constantly helping others. That's kind of my. I like to bring smiles to people's faces and and bring them joy. Um, and I in the last I would say in the last 20, 25 years I've been able to do that. So my heart is content there and I want to further that for my people in Latin America and the Caribbean and do more. I've only visited two of the countries that we serve on mission trips, but I look forward to going on more and taking our donors or people that might be interested in helping lift people out of poverty so they can see firsthand what a blessing it is.

Barbara Mari:

Again, you know, in the world that we live right now, there's a lot of conspiracy theories. There's a lot of perceptions out there that are not true. So these people believe me and Keisha, you and I have lived this. We don't want to leave our countries. We don't want to leave our countries. These people don't want to leave their country either.

Barbara Mari:

If we can give them a livelihood in their country and we can help lift them out of poverty.

Barbara Mari:

You know, I mean we can build a home anywhere in Latin America and the Caribbean for $9,800. That is like, literally, for $9,800, we can build a home and give that person a safe home where their kids can. You know? The homes have two bedrooms, they have a bathroom, they have a small kitchen, they have a little porch and then in the back, you know, it's kind of like a laundry area where they can wash their clothes and it has, you know, those, the piletas, those big things where you wash clothes, those big things where you wash clothes, and it's like a huge sink made out of the piletas, or big sinks that are made out of cement. And they're so happy with that. You know, we're giving them hope, which is what they need to thrive. Right, if we can give people hope so they can thrive, the world is going to be so much better, and especially the area, the region we're talking about right now, which is so close to our heart, which is Latin America and the Caribbean.

Kysha - Pulse of the Caribbean:

And do you have any favorite Caribbean sayings? They're all in Spanish. That's fine, you can say it and translate it and let us know what it means.

Barbara Mari:

I would say the first one that comes to mind, and I think all of us that live in the Caribbean say that I live where your vacation is one of the best ones. Uh, because our, you know our, our, our, our, you know, our, our region is just so beautiful. Right, there are other. I do have to say that I'm an avid traveler and I love to travel, and every part of the world has its beauty, but there's nothing like home and the smell. As I said before, when I go to the beach in Puerto Rico, it's just like the salt, it just smells different than in any other part of the world. And I would say that I live where you vacation.

Kysha - Pulse of the Caribbean:

And finally, what is your message to Caribbean people about our global impact?

Barbara Mari:

I think that our region I mean there are, there are countries that are definitely thriving and I would say, you know, the first one that comes to mind is Dominican Republic, because they've made incredible strides since the dictatorship has been over. I think that we have, you know, we have very resilient people. We have people that are passionate about the region. We have to choose the people that are governing us a little bit better. We have a strategic positioning in the world that's unique and I don't, you know, sometimes I think we're not taking full advantage of that.

Kysha - Pulse of the Caribbean:

Very true. And with that, barbara, I would like to thank you so much for the opportunity to have a conversation with you about your beginnings, about the work that you've done and certainly the current work that you are doing to help uplift people, people in Latin America and the Caribbean and certainly here in the United States, wherever we're planted, because, as you mentioned that, everyone wants to be home and stay home, perhaps, and thrive and grow within the communities that they grew in, and through Food for the Poor Inc, there's an opportunity and opportunities to give in so many ways to help and assist people. So with that, we'd like to say thank you so much for the work that you do as Senior Director of Major and Principal Guests for Food for the Poor Inc, and also the previous work that you've done with St Jude's Children Research Hospital and all the other work that you've done to put the Caribbean on the map. Thank you so much for being our guest on the Pulse of the Caribbean podcast.

Barbara Mari:

My pleasure, keisha. Thank you so much for inviting me. I'm Barbara Mari and I'm the Senior Director at Food for the Poor, and I'm the Pulse of the Caribbean.