Food For The Poor fundraising letter, December 1996, to South Bend, IN recipient
Document date December 1996
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Id: Cooper-Part-51:143-146
Subject: Cooper Files: Cooper-Part-51:143-146 Document: Food For The Poor fundraising letter, December 1996, to South Bend, IN recipient Id: Cooper-Part-51:143-146 Page: https://cooper.theunsolved.net/documents/Cooper-Part-51%3A143-146 What is wrong (title, date, type, which pages belong together, copies)? What does the scan show?
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FBI 164-81, Vault Part 51 pp. 143–146 (DB Cooper-21254–21257), Letter, dated Dec 1996 — cooper.theunsolved.net/documents/Cooper-Part-51%3A143-146
"As often as you did it for one of the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it for me." Matthew 25:40
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FOOD FOR THE POOR, INC. 550 SW 12 AVENUE • DEERFIELD BEACH, FL 33442 • (954) 427-2222 • FAX: (954) 570-7654
0182986
December 1996
[REDACTED] South Bend, IN [REDACTED]
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Dear [REDACTED]
God has blessed us with a wonderful Christmas gift and I had to share this fantastic news with you. Food For The Poor has been promised $400,000 from a group of generous benefactors. The gift is critical because we need over one million dollars to help 50 destitute orphanages. However, in order to receive this gift, we must meet three conditions:
1) We must raise an additional $400,000 from concerned friends like you to match this gift dollar for dollar.
2) The money has to be used to help abandoned children and orphans in the Caribbean and Latin America.
3) Most importantly, we must raise all the matching funds by December 31 or we will lose this remarkable opportunity.
This is a chance for you to double the value of your gift...and double the help you give to orphans and abandoned children this Christmas. Your gift will go twice as far to give the most helpless of God's poor children what they really need for Christmas - food, clothing and other essential items.
Your matching gift of $25 or $50 will show all of these abandoned orphans God's love and care through
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your compassion. For, when you send a gift to help them, you are really giving it back to God, who gave us the most precious gift of all - His Son, our Savior.
However, if we don't find the money to match this gift, we'll lose this opportunity. That is why I pray you will consider writing a check today so we can meet this urgent deadline.
I only wish you could personally see the beautiful faces of the children ... children like María at Father López's orphanage in El Salvador.
Like the other children Father López cares for, María is a victim of El Salvador's war. Her world was a peaceful, happy place until her parents died and she lost everything.
Even now she wakes up in the middle of the night, calling out for her mother. But I told María how people like you help, because we are all one family in Christ, caring for each other. "Even though you lost your parents, you still have a family who cares very much about you," I said. "Just as Jesus does."
Sadly, all 50 orphanages have children who have suffered as no child ever should. Their stories are similar, as are their needs. Your gift, matched dollar for dollar, will go far in helping these orphans.
Sheldon is shy and quiet, a victim of parents who are drug addicts. His thin body needs lots of food. When he came to the Living Water orphanage in Trinidad, he was severely malnourished. And, the orphanage is down to their last bag of rice and beans.
Little Glen Roy was found in his dying mother's arms at an abandoned airport in Grenada. Roma, his new "Mom," is so poor she has only two diapers for Glen Roy. She begged me for diapers and baby food for him and the other orphans she took under her wing.
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In Haiti, Annie was abandoned by her mother. Too poor to feed her, her mother walked off, leaving Annie alone in the street. Annie is barefoot and her clothes are threadbare. She receives love at the orphanage, but little else. They can't afford decent clothing for her and the other children.
Sharlene is another child you will help through your gift. She is only five years old, but old enough to remember how she was neglected. At the Maxfield Park Home in Jamaica, her bed is a crib with peeling lead paint. There are no blankets. No sheets.
You are such an important part of Food For The Poor, I don't know how I can help all these orphans without you. I promised the 50 orphanages food, baby blankets, diapers, clothing and shoes, sheets and other essentials they need. These poor children are so hungry and destitute that a hot, nutritious meal means more to them at Christmas than toys.
It will be a great loss to the children and the orphanages we need to help if we don't match this gift of $400,000. That's why your gift this holiday season is so crucial.
I've enclosed two Matching Gift Checks made out to Food For The Poor for two different amounts. Here's what I need you to do.
Help us match the gift by sending an amount that matches one or both of these checks, or fill in the enclosed blank Matching Gift check for the amount you are led to give.
Remember, your gift for these poor orphans will be doubled in value through this remarkable matching gift opportunity. We'll be able to help thousands of orphans ... María in El Salvador ... Sheldon in Trinidad ... Glen Roy in Grenada ... Annie in Haiti ... Sharlene in Jamaica ... and many, many more.
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I really need to hear from you by December 31 to meet the conditions of the matching gift. This is your chance to make your gift double in size and give directly to those who need you the most - abandoned children and orphans of the Caribbean and Latin America. I don't want to let the children down. I know you don't want to either.
I am pleading with you, please help the orphans this Christmas. Every dollar you give means another orphan will be fed, sheltered and clothed. I know whatever you give comes from the heart and that is the true spirit of Christmas.
A servant of the poor,
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P.S. If you give by December 31, your gift will be matched dollar for dollar. The children need you to provide them with food, clothing and other essentials. Please give whatever you can to this extraordinary matching gift opportunity.
P.P.S. With this letter, you will find a small gift from me ... a bookmark with my favorite poem written on it. The poem is "I am there." The words are a great comfort to me as God tells us that He is always with us. Please use it in your bible or your favorite book. And remember, no matter what, God is always there.
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Contributions are tax deductible under IRS section 501(c)(3).
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Serials: 0182986