The People’s National Party says it is deeply saddened by the passing of the founder of Food for the Poor (FP), Ferdinand ‘Ferdie’ Mahfood, who it called a giant of the voluntary and charity sectors.

“As a scion of one of Jamaica’s successful business families, Ferdie Mahfood could have chosen to pursue a career of building his family’s well-respected conglomerate. Instead, he followed his deep spiritual calling to enter the voluntary and charity sectors and became perhaps Jamaica’s most impactful philanthropist,” the party said in a release.

In 1982, Mahfood launched Food for the Poor, which has become one of the leading charitable organisations in the Americas.

“His vision, dedication and immense capacity for organisation, given expression through that vehicle of service to the poor, have made a difference in the lives of hundreds and thousands across the Caribbean, Latin and North America.”

Over the years, Food for the Poor has partnered with successive administrations to deliver disaster relief and to implement many poverty relief programmes, particularly in the areas of social housing and school feeding.

In expressing condolences on the passing of Mahfood, PNP President Mark Golding said: “Ferdie Mahfood will forever be remembered as the driver behind the wheel of the charitable powerhouse we know as Food for the Poor. He set a uniquely effective example of the spirit of volunteerism and charity in action.”

“Under his guidance, over time, Food for the Poor has become a critical agency which supplements the inadequacies of regional governments’ capacities to look after the needs of our most vulnerable populations. Ferdie was a visionary whose deep religious faith and immense organisational skills combined to make a huge difference in the lives of those suffering in poverty,” Golding continued.

The PNP said it was extending to the Mahfood family and the partners of Food for the Poor its deepest sympathy and good wishes during a time of loss and grief.