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Asha's Story, India
 Asha, a young mother of 19 lost her first-born daughter just days after birth. Because Asha was consuming a diet of little nutritional value, her body was weak and her daughter suffered from malnutrition, the leading cause of death in 3.5 million children under the age of 5 each year. During her next pregnancy, Asha learned about Bridge of Hope, one of Vitamin Angels’ partner organizations in Banagalore, India. There she received prenatal vitamins and also learned the importance of breastfeeding and regular prenatal care. This May, Asha gave birth to a healthy baby girl weighing approximately 6.5 pounds.
Read more of Asha's story >>
Vitamin Angels is reaching 50,000 women in India this year with prenatal vitamins through Thrive to Five >> |
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 Children’s Multivitamin
Distributions in Laos
This month we received an update from our partners, Give Children a Choice, in Laos. This year Vitamin Angels will be providing enough multivitamins to reach all the children under five in the Xieng Khouang province! The first shipment, enough for 9,000 children recently arrived and is in the process of being distributed to the children through school programs.
Give Children A Choice focuses on building and populating preschools in Asia with an objective of raising the educational achievement for elementary school girls and preschool children during their most critical formative years of learning.
Learn more about our work in countries around the world, visit our Projects page >> |
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Help Vitamin Angels continue to reach children and mothers in the hardest to reach places around the world, and right here in the United States. Make a donation today!
To see more of our projects in countries around the world, learn about our partners and how many children we are reaching, check out our programs pages:
Operation 20/20 | Thrive to Five |
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 We would like to pay special thanks to those partners who have been especially generous in the recent months. Each and every supporter is truly valuable and makes our work possible; to see a list of all our donors, check out our Contributors page. |
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 Vitamin World
Vitamin Angels would like to extend our appreciation to Vitamin World for their generous contribution of more than 7.2 million doses of children’s multivitamin supplements to our Thrive to Five program this year as well as over $200,000 through their in store sales of canvas bags. In keeping with their commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of individuals, Vitamin World is making a difference in the lives of thousands of children in need. Nearly 2 million children’s multivitamins were distributed in countries worldwide through our partners at Hope in Action, while approximately 5 million doses will soon be making their way to the children of Haiti. We truly value your partnership, Vitamin World and look forward to changing more children’s lives together! Vitamin World is a multi-channel retailer with over 450 locations nationwide. |
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 USPlabs, LLC
Vitamin Angels would like to welcome on board one of our newest supporters from the sports category of the supplement industry, USPlabs LLC. They have come on board in a big way in support of our Operation 20/20 and Thrive to Five programs. USPlabs support comes through donations from some of their products, which are available through another of our major contributors, the Vitamin Shoppe. Our many thanks to USPlabs, we hope this is just the beginning of a meaningful and rewarding partnership! |
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| Looking for ways to get involved? Check out the updated Get Involved section on our website for new ways to participate like creating your own fundraising page or joining Team Vitamin Angels. |
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 UCSD’s Delta Gamma’s Reach 3,600 children with School Wide Fundraiser
From May 17th-21st, the Delta Gamma's of UC San Diego held a week-long event called the "Most Beautiful Eyes Contest" in order to raise money for Vitamin Angels. On UCSD's Library Walk, the DG's set up a booth with information about Vitamin Angels, a bean-bag toss game, and "penny wars" jars.
Each fraternity, sorority, and student council elected a "Most Beautiful Eyes" delegate to have their picture on their team's penny wars jar. The result was a week full of competition and fundraising to determine the "Most Beautiful Eyes" at UC San Diego, all while raising approximately $800 for Vitamin Angels. Delta Gamma also designed and sold their own VA t-shirts and raised money through games and activities.
The week was so successful that the UCSD DG's plan to continue the tradition of the "Most Beautiful Eyes Contest" next year to raise even more funds for Vitamin Angels.
Holding your own fundraiser? Set up a fundraising page!
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Guatemala trip Video
In March, Vitamin Angels was accompanied by individuals from Univera and Serve First on a trip to Guatemala to observe prenatal vitamin distributions. Univera and Serve First have put together a great video with interviews from the travelers, clips from the visit, and photos.Check it out >>
Missed the trip? Read the Notes from the Field; this work is a gift , bearing witness |
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B52’s at the Lowell Summer Music Series
Grab your blanket and lawn chairs and join Vitamin Angels for a performance by one of America’s favorite rock bands, the B-52’s!
 With over 20 million albums sold, the B-52’s will be rocking in the Lowell Summer Music Series on August 20, 2010, while helping raise awareness for Vitamin Angels and encouraging fans to donate to our programs to help children around the world receive essential nutrients.
Invite your friends on Facebook and visit the Lowell Summer Music Series website for more details! |
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Dear Friends,
Sister Denise from Little Sisters of St. Therese in Baraderes, Haiti visited our offices last Friday (Check out the update from the visit) . We met Sister Denise when we went to her clinic in October of last  year. I will never forget the drive out there, 2 ½ hours to go 29 miles on what could only conceptually be called a road (ruts up to my thighs and only paved for maybe 200 feet of the entire drive). Sister Denise is exemplary of the selfless people we often work with who have dedicated their lives to helping us reach the unreachable.
This evening many of our supporters will be joining us at the 2nd Annual Summit of the Angels event at the NBJ Summit in Dana Point. It will be an incredible evening. We are also working on some other wonderful events, mark your calendars! August 20th we will be rocking out to the B-52’s at the Lowell Summer Music Series, and raising awareness for our work. The 5th Annual Celebration of Angels will be held on October 15th at the Harvard Club in Boston, MA while the Natural Products Expo East event is going on. (If you are interested in sponsoring the event please contact Jessamyn: jwead@vitaminangels.org). Then on October 20th Vitamin Angels is honored to be taking part in a special Opening Reception at Supply Side West in Las Vegas, hosted by DSM and in partnership with Virgo Publishing.
Lately, I’ve been traveling domestically, talking with key partners and inviting them to join our efforts to reach 40 million children in 2011. We can do this.
In between all of this activity, I am finding some time for some summer reading and thought I would share a few recommendations:
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• Half the Sky by Nicolas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn – Our favorite NY Times advocates deliver an inspiring book about women facing adversity and changing the world. They also show how chronic malnutrition disproportionately impacts the lives of women and girls.
• This Is a Soul: The Mission of Rick Hodes by Marilyn Berger – The dedication of Dr. Rick Hodes and what he is accomplishing in Ethiopia is incredible – his home is filled with children he has adopted. Just remarkable.
• Slave: My True Story by Mende Nazer – The true story of a 12 year old girl who gets sold into slavery (for about $150) in 1993 in Sudan and her journey to freedom. A jarring wakeup call that slavery still exists today.
• A Thousand Sisters by Lisa Shannon – The shocking and powerful story of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, (Lisa calls it the worst place on earth to be a woman and after reading this, I would have to agree), and one woman’s mission to change the lives of her sisters there.
And yes I do find time for some light reading. My favorite illustrated children’s book these days is The Chicken Thief by Beatrice Rodriguez. It is a wonderful reminder that things are not always as they seem.
Upwards!
 Howard Schiffer, President |
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Food shortages spark increasing malnutrition in West Africa’s Sahel region
Crop failure and poor harvests as a result of prolonged drought in West Africa’s Sahel region have led to food shortages and increased rates of malnutrition in the surrounding areas. A nationwide survey found that nearly 17 percent of Niger’s under-five children suffer from acute malnutrition. That’s a 42 percent increase from the same period last year. Read More >> |
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Latest Survey Finds that 1/3 of Zimbabwean Children Malnourished
The latest Zimbabwe Food and National Nutrition Survey, carried out by UNICEF et al., noted that nearly 12,000 child deaths each year in the Zimbabwe may be attributable to maternal and child under-nutrition. The prevalence of chronic malnutrition is now 33.8% and only one in 10 children is receiving a diet that is minimally acceptable. Read More >> |
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Summit of the Angels at the NBJ Summitt
 The 13th annual NBJ Summit has officially sold out and Vitamin Angels is proud to announce that we will have over 160 guests attending the 2nd Annual Summit of the Angels wine tasting event this evening! Don't miss this special evening featuring the upcoming and coming band,
Truth on Earth, preforming live!
Our thanks to the Nutrition Business Journal and New Hope! |
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