Yes, as President and Founder of Food for Orphans, I am happily involved in saving the lives of orphans around the world.
Every time I walk into an orphanage, I feel a tremendous amount of LOVE.
I want to see hungry orphans able to enjoy a nutritional meal every day. I want to know that they are healthier becuase of the generosity of thousands of people around the world who really care for these little ones.
Gary VanDyke, Food for Orphans' founder and CEO, began helping orphans in 1999. As the father of five, Gary has always had a heart for the needs of children. But in 1999, he visited several children's projects in Lima, Peru and as he tells it, "To watch the pain of these children's suffering was impossible for me to bear. My life was changed forever."
Gary worked with a charity that cares for needy children and orphans around the world. Gary visited the international projects, evaluated their needs, helped to train the staff, and communicated the children's needs to people back home. As he visited more and more orphans, Gary was touched by their helplessness and innocence. He was constantly wounded by the poor health and physical condition of the orphans he met. When asked what their biggest challenge was, orphan caregivers repeatedly said "The lack of food."
Gary knew that he could not continue to stand immobile while orphans starved. Knowing that something had to be done, he began to create an organization that would address the orphans most pressing and urgent need … food.
