Larry Ward founded the organization in 1971 , with offices in Southern California . He moved the offices to Arizona in 1974 . Early projects included helping refugees in war-torn Bangladesh , victims of the 1972 Nicaragua earthquake , rescuing Vietnamese " boat people " from the South China Sea , and helping hungry and needy people in Haiti and West Africa . The child sponsorship program was started in 1978 . Hunger Corps , the people-sending division of Food for the Hungry , began in 1979
1972 Nicaragua earthquake
1972 Nicaragua earthquake
Food for the Hungry