Above: flooding in Haiti (MINUSTAH Photo/Logan Abassi)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

More than 25,000 people and 5,000 families have received food distributions from the Pan-American Development Foundation in December, the organization announced Wednesday.

The distribution, which took place in Haiti’s southeast region, included approximately $90,154 USD worth of food.

“After the hurricanes, the government of Haiti called upon its partners for help, and PADF responded,” said Haiti Agriculture Minister Thomas Jacques.

The distribution was a partnership between the Agriculture Ministry and the PADF, with the collaboration of Haiti’s Social Welfare Fund, government officials and Food for the Poor.

The food distribution followed PADF’s emergency housing initiative in Haiti, which had helped reinforce homes to better withstand harsh weather.

“This food will be a lifeline for us,” said Marie Point Du Jour, a resident of the town of Bainet. “We lost so much in the storm — this will help us get back on our feet.”

A recent study by the United Nations’ World Food Programme warned that Haiti’s food security situation looked “bleak,” in the wake of Hurricanes Isaac and Sandy.

The UN recently estimated that as many as 1.5 million Haitians would be at risk of food insecurity in 2013 as a result of the two storms.