TORONTO, Sept. 05, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The following is a statement from Samantha Mahfood, Executive Director of Food For The Poor Canada:
I met Vivene Salmon in the summer of 2011; she was a young lawyer of Jamaican heritage who was interested in supporting Food For The Poor, a charity that focuses on building and impacting communities in the Caribbean and Latin America. She joined our advisory board to support governance and compliance. Over the time that Vivene and I worked together to advance the work of FFPC, we became friends. I have seen her grow and take on increasingly senior roles in her career, various professional associations, and on the boards of a few non-profits.
She is FFPC’s longest-serving volunteer, and in August she was installed as the President of the Canadian Bar Association. Vivene is the first female in-house counsel and the first racialized lawyer to hold the office of President at the CBA in over 120 years.
I was honoured to share in her installation in Ottawa, and I know she will do great things, with a focus on young lawyers in particular, through her goal to promote intergenerational dialogue between young lawyers and senior lawyers.
In her speech in Ottawa, Vivene thanked many people for helping her along her path; what stood out for me was her parents’ steadfast passion and belief in the transformative power of education. Education is something that we also prioritize at FFPC; while Vivene has helped with compliance, our Canadian donors have built 32 schools in Jamaica over the last 8 years, the country where Vivene’s parents were born and educated.
The CBA is leading change, and Vivene is proof of this as well as an important driver of this change.
“On September 1, I officially became President of the Canadian Bar Association, the first person of colour in the 123 years history of the Association. It is a true honour and a great responsibility. I look forward to speaking to members from across the country.”
- Vivene Salmon
Food For The Poor Canada (FFPC) empowers communities in Haiti and Jamaica through five areas of programming: food, housing, education, health and livelihood. Through basic aid and sustainable development, FFPC responds to urgent needs while building community and social infrastructure. FFPC utilizes the pre-existing infrastructure of local affiliated organizations, to better sustain and grow the communities they serve. Over the last 11 years, FFPC and its Canadian donors have built 90 homes and 32 schools, as well as shipped and distributed $28 million worth of food, educational and medical supplies.
FFPC is part of the Food For The Poor family of charities; the founding organization in the USA is Food For The Poor, an interdenominational Christian organization that works in 17 countries in the Caribbean and Latin America.
For More Information Contact:
Samantha Mahfood
Executive Director
647.350.7269
SamanthaM@FoodForThePoor.ca
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/211aa416-01d5-459e-be85-58dd04b23179