Dear Friends,
In his introduction to Jeffrey Sach’s ‘The End of Poverty,’ BONO asks the question of whether our generation will be the one to no longer accept that poverty, chronic malnutrition, and the deaths of millions of children are inevitable. In talking about the solutions that will end these problems he says “We can’t say our generation didn’t know how to do it. We can’t say our generation couldn’t afford to do it. And we can’t say our generation didn’t have reason to do it. It’s up to us.” Vitamin Angels agrees – It is up to us and with the help of our supporters we are impacting the lives of millions of children around the world every day.
Belize- One third of the population in Belize lives in poverty. Unemployment is 9.4% and the numbers go up the further South you go. The poverty is the most extreme for the Mayans living on the border next to Guatemala. Sixty percent of their children have parasites and the stunting is obvious as soon as you see the children. Our Belize Children’s Health program will reach 25,000 Mayan children in the Toledo and Stann Creek districts and give them a chance at a healthier life. The program is launching later this month on November 28th.
India- In addition to the Belize launch, Vitamin Angels supported the Esther Patton Girls High School in Kolhapur, India this month by helping to provide clean water and basic sanitation facilities. The pictures we received of the girls are wonderful, they seem ecstatic and the school’s new facilities look great.
Nicaragua- Along with our other projects, this month we sent a large shipment of multivitamins to Nicaragua. When the truck carrying the vitamins couldn’t get through the mud an elderly women carried the 30.5 pounds of vitamins to the remote village where they were distributed. This village has no electricity, no running water and the people are living in shacks. Now their children will have healthier lives because of the basic nutrition we are providing.
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Celebrity Interest
This month we received a heartfelt letter from Los Angeles Ink tattoo artist Kat Von D. She voiced her concern for the many children suffering from blindness due to Vitamin A deficiency and helped spread the word on Vitamin Angels work to her millions of fans. Look for Kat wearing an Operation 20/20 wristband on upcoming shows!
Good Bye Maureen!
Maureen Modl, the Executive Assistant to the President at Vitamin Angels, has gone on to pursue other opportunities and to support her family. Maureen is still looking for new office space for Vitamin Angels and she has promised to be a regular volunteer at our office. We wish Maureen the very best in her future endeavors!
Charity Navigator
Vitamin Angels is proud to announce we have received the coveted 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, America's premier charity evaluator. Less than a quarter of the charities they evaluate have received their highest rating, indicating that Vitamin Angels outperforms the majority of nonprofits in America with respect to fiscal responsibility. We are honored to receive this recognition from Charity Navigator! To access the report click here: http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=10717
Holiday Giving
Every time we get a photo of one of the healthy children that Vitamin Angels has helped with a donation of supplements, we know it is true that 'giving is the gift'. For everyone who wants to help support Vitamin Angels' work this holiday season, a short note on the end of your emails would be terrific;
This year I am channeling my holiday giving to Vitamin Angels.
$.25 will save one child from going blind!
To donate: https://www.vitaminangels.org/menu/donate/payment.htm
For more information go to: www.VitaminAngels.org
IN THIS ISSUE
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NOVEMBER RETAIL PROMOTIONS
ADPERK | Back to Top
Adperk on line advertising is running two Vitamin Angel videos through December 30th. To check out our videos go to www.adperk.com and click on the magazine Alternative Medicine. By watching these videos you can earn a free year long subscription to Alternative Medicine magazine!
VITAMIN ANGELS AT THE VILLAGE LEVEL | Back to Top
Do you want to get a good idea of how Vitamin Angels' programs look at the village level? Contact us at (info@VitaminAngels.com) and ask for one or more of our DVD's: Operation 20/20, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Asia, or Mississippi. We will happily drop them in the mail to you. Or go to our new website at; www.VitaminAngels.org and check out all of the videos in our video section!
We thank all of our supporters who make this work possible!
Thanks to everyone who supported our work this month: our amazing BOD: Tom Aarts, Barclay Hope, Yvon Bastien, Bill Sechrest, Elliott Balbert, Mehbs Remtulla, and Jeff Markel; Steve Allen and Peter Hefele on our BOA; Jeff Hilton and everyone at IMG; our amazing interns Hava, Rachel, Ashley and Brittany.; Amy, Miranda and Steve at Pitch Publicity. From our new program in Belize: Dr. Natalia Largaespada Beer ( Maternal and Child Health Technical Advisor, Belize Ministry of Health), Dr. Guillermo Troya (Health Systems & Services Adviser, PAHO/WHO Belize), and Dr. Steven K. Ault, Regional Advisor in Communicable Diseases (Parasitic Disease).
Thank you to Pan American Health Organization, Regional Office of the World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO Belize), SPINS, Presence Marketing and Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy.
WANTS & NEEDS | Back to Top
We are in need of financial contributions to help support our work. From the recent World Bank book ‘Repositioning Nutrition as Central To Development', it is clear that our need for vitamin supplements is greater than ever before. We need planned production of children's chewable vitamins (multiples), adult multiples, prenatals, and fish oil capsules. Please contact Ada at: 805 564 8400 or Ada@VitaminAngels.org to arrange for a financial contribution or a product donation.
Thanks to our donors this month: Tishcon, Pharmachem Laboratories, Rainbow Light Nutritional Systems, NOW Health Group, Flora Inc., and Pure Fruit Technologies, Acelera Nutrition, Platinum Naturals.
As always, please forward this newsletter to all of your friends and colleagues. We rely on our supporters and friends to help get the word out and get people to our site (www.VitaminAngels.org) so they can see the scope of what we are accomplishing and make needed contributions. Your support and encouragement make all of the difference in the world!
Best,
Howard B. Schiffer
Vitamin Angels
PO Box 42029
Santa Barbara, CA 93140 USA
P: 805 564 8400
F: 805 564 8499
E: info@VitaminAngels.org
PRODUCT DISTRIBUTION REPORT 10/1/07 - 10/31/07) | Back to Top
NEW PROGRAMS THIS MONTH!
1. Cameroon
Through a program with Hope in Action vitamins were provided to some of the 4,000 adults and 1,500 children on Sio Sio. Nutrition was severely lacking on this small island off the coast of Cameroon. The vitamins helped the children concentrate in school and provided hope for future employment on the mainland.
2. Niger
Through a program with Hope in Action vitamins were provided to Nigerian orphanages, primary schools, centers for troubled youth, and families living in extreme poverty. Niger has the highest poverty of 177 nations. The recipients included 32,360 children under fifteen years of age and to 1,800 pregnant and breast-feeding women.
3. Pakistan
Through a program with Hope in Action twenty-eight pallets of vitamins were distributed to people recovering from earthquake destruction in four areas of Pakistan: the Neelum Valley, Muzaffarabad, Bagh and Rawalakot.
4. Rwanda
Through a program with Hope in Action vitamins were distributed to 5,000 internally-displaced children and 3,000 impoverished adults in Rwanda. The recipients included orphans in Kamabuye sector of Bugesera, Ngoma, the poorest area of Kicukiro district, and a dozen areas near Kegali. Some of the children were functioning as the head of household.
5. St. Louis, MO
Through a program with Hope in Action vitamins were distributed at an event where 19,000 inner-city residents of St. Louis gathered to receive a hot meal and donated groceries.
6. Sudan
Through a program with Hope in Action vitamins were distributed to displaced Sudanese in refugee camps near the Sudan border in Ethiopia. Recipients also included 4,353 children in 13 southern Sudan schools near Boma
7. Zambia
Through a program with Hope in Action vitamins were distributed in the Lasaka area to schools, HIV/AIDS clinics and 15 orphanages. Distribution of vitamins was also made in conjunction with a week-long medical and dental clinic.
ONGOING PROGRAMS
1. Bolivia
Vitamin A and antiparasitics are being delivered to Bolivia as part of Operation 20/20's expansion with Save the Children. The program will reach 58,000 children.
2. Burkina Faso
Vitamin A and antiparasitics are being delivered to Burkina Faso as part of Operation 20/20's expansion with Save the Children. The program will reach 375,000 children.
3. Dominican Republic
The DR program sponsored by UNFI, is slated to be a three year campaign to reach 55,000 children per year. We are distributing multivitamins daily and antiparastics two times per year. Our in country partner is Batey Relief Association (BRA).
4. El Salvador
Vitamin A and antiparasitics are being delivered to El Salvador as part of Operation 20/20's expansion with Save the Children. The program will reach 4,000 children.
5. Haiti
Vitamin A and antiparasitics are being delivered to Haiti as part of Operation 20/20's expansion with Save the Children. The program will reach 138,000 children and 21,000 lactating mothers and their babies.
6. Haiti
In the remote mountain areas where no medical help is available and an estimated 98% of all children are infested with worms, Missions of Love received 43 bottles and treated 2,150 children. World Harvest Missions received 200 bottles of anti-parasitics and were able to treat 10,000 children in the Pestel area.
7. Honduras
This program is sponsored by Sight & Life (DSM), UNFI, Anabolic Laboratories, United Flavors, Domino Foods, George Washington University, Pan American Health Organization and Medpharm. This program is reaching 55,000 children per year for three years. Our in-country partners are Cristo Salva, Ministry of Health and PAHO. We are distributing children's multivitamins and antiparastics (the multivitamins are given daily and the antiparastics are given twice a year). Recent photos show new gardens that children have planted at their schools with crops high in Vitamin A!
8. India
Sponsored by Johnson & Johnson our campaign in India is in its fourth year and is now reaching 1 million nursing mothers and children with vitamin A and deworming tablets - both the vitamin A and the deworming are given two times per year.
9. Indonesia
Vitamin A and antiparasitics are being delivered to Indonesia as part of Operation 20/20's expansion with Save the Children. The program will reach 320,000 children and 60,000 lactating mothers and their babies.
10. Malawi
Vitamin A and antiparasitics are being delivered to Malawi as part of Operation 20/20's expansion with Save the Children. The program will reach 90,000 children.
11. Mali (Sahel)
Vitamin A and antiparasitics are being delivered to Mali as part of Operation 20/20's expansion with Save the Children. The program will reach 25,000 children.
12. Mississippi
Ruleville Mississippi is a very poor rural district in the Mississippi Delta. With the support of Univera and their Serve First Program, we are now reaching 2,000 children with a daily nutrition supplement; Ageless Essentials.
13. Mozambique
Vitamin A and antiparasitics are being delivered to Mozambique as part of Operation 20/20's expansion with Save the Children. The program will reach 720,000 children and 110,000 lactating mothers and their babies.
14. Myanmar
Vitamin A and antiparasitics are being delivered to Myanmar as part of Operation 20/20's expansion with Save the Children. The program will reach 343,000 children and 7,000 lactating mothers and their babies.
15. Nepal
Vitamin A and antiparasitics are being delivered to Nepal as part of Operation 20/20's expansion with Save the Children. The program will reach 333,000 children.
16. Nicaragua
Vitamin A and antiparasitics are being delivered to Nicaragua as part of Operation 20/20's expansion with Save the Children. The program will reach 500,000 children.
17. Pakistan
Vitamin A and antiparasitics are being delivered to Pakistan as part of Operation 20/20's expansion with Save the Children. The program will reach 385,000 children and 835,000 lactating mothers and their babies.
18. Philippines
We are doing a deworming program in partnership with Save the Children reaching 250,000 kids per year. This program began in the first quarter of 2006 and is now slated to run through the last quarter of 2007.
19. Sudan
Vitamin A and antiparasitics are being delivered to Sudan as part of Operation 20/20's expansion with Save the Children. The program will reach 40,000 children.
20. Tibet
In this program we work closely with Dr. Nancy Harris who is the founder of Terma. We've distributed up to 2 million children's multiples per month.
21. Uganda
Vitamin A and antiparasitics are being delivered to Uganda as part of Operation 20/20's expansion with Save the Children. The program will reach 175,000 children.
22. Uganda
Through a program with Feed the Hungry children’s vitamins will be used as a daily supplement during a feeding program at Good News Academy (800 children daily) and at Destiny school & orphanage (677 children at present).
23. Vietnam
Vitamin A and antiparasitics are being delivered to Vitenam as part of Operation 20/20's expansion with Save the Children. The program will reach 376,600 children and 2,000 lactating mothers and their babies.