FLORIDA, United States, Friday January 24, 2014 – Jamaican reggae fusion artist Tessanne Chin, who earned international acclaim last month by winning Season 5 of NBC’s The Voice, is already lending her time and talent to worthy Caribbean causes.

Tessanne, who recently performed with Jamaican philanthropist Shaggy at a Shaggy and Friends concert, will headline Food For The Poor’s Building Hope Gala on Saturday February 1 at The Polo Club in Boca Raton, Florida.

The versatile songstress will perform her new single “Tumbling Down” to help persuade attendees to replace dilapidated huts in earthquake-ravaged Haiti’s Ganthier community with safe, permanent houses.

Tessanne says she keeps pinching herself when asked how winning The Voice has changed her life.

According to the President/CEO of Food For The Poor, Robin Mahfood, that reaction is similar to “the immense joy and disbelief that destitute families experience when they are moved from their crudely built huts into sturdy Food For The Poor homes.”

“Food For The Poor would like to thank Tessanne for generously lending her voice to lift families out of extreme poverty,” Mahfood continued. “The life-altering difference a new Food For The Poor house makes for families living in deplorable conditions is incredible. When a family expresses their gratitude for their new Food For The Poor house, it is not uncommon for them to refer to it as their piece of heaven.”

Building Hope Gala committee members Allison Venditti and Kara Seelye travelled to Ganthier with Food For The Poor in October to see first-hand the remote community’s needs.

Both of the Florida residents were appalled by the living conditions and the sight of barefoot, malnourished children covered in dust that emerged from the huts.

“It is the worst situation I have seen,” said Venditti, a Building Hope Gala committee member. “The houses are made of little sticks and mud, with thatched roofs.”

In addition to the appearance by Chin, the fundraiser will feature a silent auction, cocktail reception, gourmet dinner, and dancing.

Food For The Poor, named by The Chronicle of Philanthropy as the largest international relief and development organization in the United States, does more than feed millions in 17 Caribbean and Latin American countries.

The interdenominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance