Food for the Hungry International

FHI was founded in 1971 by Dr. Larry Ward to provide a special focus on the world’s physically and spiritually hungry. In the face of the world’s overwhelming needs, he maintained the premise that the hungry die on at a time; therefore, they can be saved one at a time. FHI’s history consists of four major periods:

1970’s: Focus on disaster relief. Activity during those years included aid to war refugees and flood victims in Bangladesh (1971-72), earthquake relief in Managua, Nicaragua (1973), aid for Vietnamese “boat people” (1975), earthquake relieve in Guatemala (1976) and Romania (1977), and relief assistance to Somalia famine victims in 1980.

1980’s: Focus on sustainable development. In 1984, Dr. Ted Yamamori succeeded Dr. Ward as FHI’s second president. FHI began to change from an organization solely focused on disaster relief to on also providing long-term sustainable development. During this time, large development programmes stated or expanded in Bolivia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Bangladesh, to name a few.

1990’s: Focus on becoming a vision-driven organization. In 1993, FHI and its National Support Organizations unified around a common corporate identity. A key statement in this identity was the vision of a community that defines what it look like for a community to develop itself in an integrated and sustainable way

21st century: Focus on developing people to carry the vision. With a strong Corporate identity and a Vision of a Community (VoC), FHI is now focused on developing leaders and workers who can carry out this vision. In March 2001, Randall L. Hoag succeeded Dr. Yamamori as FHI’s third president. He ahs been with FHI since 1983 when he started as a volunteer. In 2003, FHI relocated its International Service Center to Bangkok, Thailand.

History