Howard Schiffer and his story.

My first passion in my early 20’s was childbirth education and midwifery. I was part of the home birth movement (this was in the 70’s) and ended up attending over 55 births. It was an incredible experience.

Because our work was often scrutinized by the medical establishment (this was before you could even get a degree in midwifery and birthing centers were non-existent), we did scrupulous prenatal work. This included nutritional counseling as many of our clients were vegetarians and vegans. Ensuring the expecting mothers hemoglobin levels were high enough was essential for a healthy and safe pregnancy. As a result, I became very involved in nutritional research and was fascinated with the work being done.

When I realized that being on call 24/7 was not for me and that going back to school for a medical degree was unlikely, I turned my focus to the natural product’s industry. I took the nutritional research I had been doing and proceeded to develop and/or sell a number of national brands, many of which made their way into over 30,000 stores. I achieved some success, and did some consulting for some of the biggest brands in the market, but after 14 years in the Natural Products Industry, I was ready for something new.

At about this time I remember participating in a meeting where we were asked to write our own obituaries. The idea was to ask ourselves the question ‘What do I want to be remembered for?’ I recall thinking, if I died tomorrow, they would write ‘He Sold A Lot of Products’ on my tombstone. The reason I went into the Natural Products Industry was to make this world a healthier place. I knew there was more to do in this life.

What I didn’t know was: (1) how to reach children in rural communities and villages around the world and (2) what an incredible impact basic nutrition could have on their lives.  At the time I thought getting vitamins to kids who were chronically malnourished was probably a good idea (never dreaming that it would be recognized as a centerpiece for global health only 16 years later) and that I had quite a few connections with supplement manufacturers and raw material suppliers, and tableters, and on and on.

The 1994 Northridge Earthquake in Southern California quickly solved my dilemma. Many families from the migrant community lost their homes. People were living outside in tents, not eating correctly, not sleeping, and very stressed out. A representative from a local relief agency in Santa Barbara, called up a company I was an owner of to ask for help. They told me they were afraid of the children getting sick and epidemics spreading because of the poor conditions and were looking for a donation of supplements. I told them that I would make some calls.

A few of my contacts in the industry were supportive of the effort and said they would do what they could. Three days later, the relief agency called me screaming "how did you do this? This is incredible! We’ve never had this many vitamins!" Later I learned that a truck had just delivered 3 pallets of vitamins. I told them "when the dust settles from the earthquake, we should get together. I have an idea."

Three weeks later, at the beginning of February 1994, in a little coffee shop on State Street in Santa Barbara, Vitamin Angels was born. The agency knew how to do logistics and could connect me with the children in the villages. This was all I needed. We were on our way.

I went to a meeting with the Program Staff of the relief agency and asked them what they needed in the way of vitamins. The head of Programs immediately said "we need everything." I told her I had many contacts and asked what was possible. She told me that with 2 capsules of high dose vitamin A (200,000 IU – not sold in the US), we could prevent children from going blind and save lives. I was stunned. I had been selling vitamins for 14 years and had never heard this before. I said, "you are telling me that with two capsules a day, you can prevent a child from going blind and save lives?" She said "no, 2 capsules a year." I nearly fell off my seat. I remember leaving that meeting in disbelief. I went home and immediately started researching vitamin A and sure enough, Dr. Alfred Sommer from Johns Hopkins University, had discovered the amazing properties of vitamin A in the 60’s.

That first year I started by just calling up the people I knew in the Natural Products Industry to see if they wanted to donate vitamins to help children around the world. Many of those companies, like NOW Foods and Rainbow Light, are still with us today! (I called them the true believers). The first year we gave away 100,000 vitamins.

Ten years later we were distributing 23.4 million supplements and projected 30 million for 2005. Well 2005 started with the tsunami in Indonesia and ended with hurricanes Katrina and Rita, as well as an earthquake in Pakistan and the flooding in Guatemala. Vitamin Angels grew to distribute over 100 million supplements that year. We were stretched thin with an all-volunteer staff and few resources. I had taken out a 2nd and 3rd mortgage on my house to keep Vitamin Angels going. It was time to formalize the organization, bring on a full time staff, and see how many children we could really reach.

The past few years have seen tremendous growth. The organization continues to evolve and this year we are confident we will connect 20 million children in 40 countries including the United States with vital nutrients. If you would have told me 5 years ago that we would have been reaching 20 million children in 2010, I would have thought that meant we had reached our pinnacle. Of course, now that we are on track to reach our target, I want to go for 40 million next year and know that 100 million is within our grasp! My sincerest thanks to all of those who have supported Vitamin Angels over the last 16 years, we could not be where we are today without you and we look forward to sharing our continuing successes with you in years to come. As I say at the end of my letters, Upwards!