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Angels Take Flight at Natural Products Expo East
Vitamin Angels Raises $2.2 Million to Save Millions of Children Worldwide
| Source: Vitamin Angels
SANTA BARBARA, CA--(Marketwire - October 16, 2007) - Last year, Vitamin Angels launched an
aggressive campaign to eradicate childhood blindness caused by vitamin A
deficiency (VAD) worldwide by the year 2020. Last year, Operation 20/20
successfully prevented 5.5 million children from going blind from lack of
vitamin A in 16 countries around the world.
Still, up to 140 million children worldwide will suffer from VAD, which if
left untreated can result in blindness and could eventually be the cause of
their death. This deficiency is due to the severe malnutrition in these
countries and the fact that the foods consumed are not fortified, which
means receiving vitamin A and other supplementation is essential. In 2008,
Vitamin Angels plans to expand their program with Operation 20/20 to reach
7.5 million children.
"Vitamin A supplementation is proven to be a contributing factor to the
dramatic decrease in worldwide deaths among children under the age of 5,"
says Howard Schiffer, executive director of Vitamin Angels, the only group
organized to completely eradicate vitamin A deficiency on the planet by the
year 2020. "Just 25 cents provides a child with the two high-dose vitamin
A capsules they need each year to prevent blindness."
To fund the program for a second year and expand their efforts, Vitamin
Angels hosted their "Celebration of Angels" fundraising gala at the Natural
Products Expo East in Baltimore. Over 300 executives from the natural
products industry attended the dinner and program and $1 million was
raised, including cash contributions and vitamin A and anti-parasitic
product donations needed for the Operation 20/20 campaign, which will cover
67 percent of what is needed to execute the program in 2008.
An additional $1.2 million was donated in other nutritional products such
as multivitamins and drinks that can be used on distributions for other
nutritional programs Vitamin Angels funds including: Children's Nutrition
Campaign, Maternal Health Program and Disaster Relief. Additionally,
professional services were also donated by publishers to help promote
Vitamin Angels nationally through advertising space in prominent magazines.
"All the donations will help fight the global malnutrition epidemic and
save the lives of children around the world," says Schiffer. "Malnutrition
is the underlying cause of half of all deaths of children under the age of
5 and Vitamin Angels provides a low-cost, low-tech solution to this major
global health problem."
Vitamin Angels recently received a four-star rating by Charity Navigator,
the nation's largest and most utilized third-party evaluator of charities.
The four-star rating is the highest level given to charities that have
exceptional cost-effective programs. Ninety-five percent of all donations
received by Vitamin Angels go directly to their nutrition programs. For a
complete list of Vitamin Angels donors, more information about Vitamin
Angels and how to help go to: http://www.VitaminAngels.org.