Friend Ships was founded in 1983 under the name Park West Children's Fund as a charitable outreach of Park West Polo & Hunt Club. The charity sponsored recreational/therapeutic programs for underprivileged children. In 1985, PWCF acquired the first of two 5000-ton cargo ships that we utilized to transport food, medical supplies, clothing, building materials, emergency vehicles and other commodities to Christian organizations for distribution to people in need. The ships delivered thou-sands of tons of aid, without charge, to Central America (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua), the Caribbean (Haiti, Antiqua, St. Lucia and St. Kitts), Eastern Europe (Croatia and Albania), the former Soviet Union, West Africa (Angola, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ghana) and the Middle East (Israel). The Friend Ships team dispatch with our land equipment when the ships are unnecessary.  We also sent aid to various nations by airlift and commercial ship and established a food rescue program for needy people in the US that, to date, has distributed, tens of millions of pounds of food.

In the early 2000’s, our operations grew to include medical and disaster services. We obtained and utilized three 180' vessels that traveled to Honduras, Haiti, Nevis in the West Indies and in the U.S., to Galveston, New Orleans and Pensacola, carrying out medical missions and disaster relief.  In 2017, we established and operated Camp Ichay at the Syria-Israel border, helping thousands of Syrian war victims with medical aid, food and clothing.  Currently, we are providing general outpatient medical services in Syria along with commodity distribution and a children's playground.  We are in need of medical and dental providers to serve long or short term.