Who Are We?  Related Topics:

*Food Distribution

*Disaster Relief

*Medical Missions

*Port Mercy

*Friend Ships Roatán

*Supporters

*Registered Non-profit

*501 (c) (3) tax-deductible

Friend Ships
Who are We?

Friend Ships Unlimited (Park West Children's Fund, Inc.) provides large scale humanitarian and disaster aid and supports ongoing programs that are having an ongoing impact on their communities.

"A generous man will himself be blessed because he shares his food with the poor."

FOOD DISTRIBUTION
Friend Ships U.S. domestic food program, "Storehouse One," in Wilmington, California, distributes food to supplement thousands of meals every week. Over 55 million pounds has been distributed from this facility in Los Angeles.   In addition "Storehouse One" has begun to operate in Lake Charles at Port Mercy.  Food is delivered weekly to local women’s & men’s shelters.

DISASTER RELIEF & MEDICAL MISSIONS
Friend Ships "Spirit" and "Spirit of Grace" have sailed to many nations in Africa, Eastern Europe, Central America, the Middle East, the former Soviet Union and the Caribbean, delivering tens of millions of pounds of relief commodities during times of war, famine, natural disaster and economic hardship.  Friend Ships “Spirit” & “Spirit of Grace” carry 5000 tons of aid each per voyage. You can help us collect relief supplies or work as a volunteer at Port Mercy or aboard ship.

Each year natural disasters occur throughout the world, killing thousands and leaving multitudes homeless and hungry. During the 2005 Hurricane Season, Friend Ships responded to three major Hurricanes; Katrina, Rita and Wilma.

Our vessels "Hope" & "Mersea" and our Bell Jet helicopter are equipped to respond quickly in times of disaster, taking in teams of medical and relief personnel as well as a mobile medical village, food and other urgently needed items.

PORT MERCY
Port Mercy in Lake Charles, Louisiana is the Friend Ships home base.   Here we are building a port facility and a center for Christian outreach around the world.  It is from this port that our vessels, "Spirit," "Spirit of Grace," "Hope" and "Mersea" begin their mission voyages to many nations around the world.  Volunteers with a wide range of skills are needed including skills in cooking, housekeeping, grounds keeping, office and ship repair. This facility provides support operations for “The Village” in Roatán, conducts all main office functions of the organization and is a base of operations for the Friend Ships U.S. food outreach, “Storehouse One”.

Short-term and long-term volunteers along with volunteering work teams, provide the manpower to provide life support programs to developing nations in an unprecedented, highly cost effective way. Private donations, corporate gifts, free of charge services and use of government facilities are the tools that make it possible to collect, transport and disperse relief commodities on a massive scale.

FRIEND SHIPS VILLAGE
"Friend Ships Village" is located on the island of Roatán off the coast of Honduras. From the Village we provide assistance to the community including training seminars and classes, humanitarian aid and disaster relief, medical, dental, and eye care services and the facility is available as a conference center with housing accommodations for local church groups.

FRIEND SHIPS SUPPORTERS
Friend Ships is supported primarily by private individuals, church and corporate donors.  All those who join Friend Ships, serve as full time volunteers. No one receives a salary.   As we work together to provide millions of dollars worth of food and supplies to those in need each and every year, corporations provide critical products or services, free of charge, or give us their first-rate products to deliver to victims of disaster, war or poverty. Sometimes they even give us ships!  Trucking companies, airlines and railroads provide free transportation for donated goods. Seaports waive all fees so that our ships may visit their countries.  Governments allow us to have the free use of buildings, equipment and ship berths so that our operations may flourish.

REGISTERED
"Friend Ships" is a 501(c)(3) tax-deductible organization, registered with the IRS, the California Registry of Charitable Trusts, the California Attorney General and the Los Angeles Department of Social Services.  In addition we are also registered with the States of Texas and Louisiana.

Updated May 2007