Program Kicks Off in Kenya to Distribute Millions of Home Nutrition Packets Contributed by DSM and Herbalife. Future Fortified, a global nutrition campaign of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), today announced it has reached its fundraising goal to provide more than 20,000 children with vital home nutrition packets to help them live, grow, and thrive.
Washington, D.C./Kajiado, Kenya (PRWEB) December 07, 2012
Future Fortified Campaign Head Adrianna Logalbo traveled to Kenya this week to meet with the local partners, mothers, and community health workers to see firsthand the urgent problem of malnutrition and the impact of the home nutrition packets. Drought, escalating food prices, and conflict have brought hunger and malnutrition to more than 2.4 million people in Kenya, said Logalbo. As a result, children have alarmingly high rates of vitamin deficiencies, leading to blindness, illness, and even death from common childhood infections. But all of this is on the verge of change.
GAIN has been working closely with its partners in Kenya, including the Government of Kenya, Feed the Children, and Phillips Healthcare Services Ltd, to plan an effective distribution of the first tranche of 20 million home nutrition MixMe packets which were contributed by DSM, a leading producer of vitamins and nutritional ingredients, and Herbalife, a global nutrition company. A critical component is the education of mothers and families on the importance of good nutrition and the proper use of these home nutrition packets. Money raised by Future Fortifieds grassroots supporters and partners, including Herbalife through its successful fundraising campaign around their involvement in the World Football Challenge, was invested in the training of the community health workers who will deliver the education.
Over the last year, Herbalife employees and independent distributors have embraced our relationship with GAIN and rallied around the opportunity to help address the critical nutrient needs of children in Kenya, stated Michael O. Johnson, Herbalifes chairman and CEO. We are honored to be working in partnership with GAIN and the Future Fortified campaign to provide both the MixMe packets as well as support the necessary education of families and mothers on their proper use.
DSM remains dedicated to helping people, and especially women and children receive the nutrients they need, said Stephan S. Tanda, Managing Board Member of DSM. It is a pleasure to join GAIN, Herbalife, and Future Fortified to provide life-changing nutrition packets in Kenya and we hope to continue to help fight global malnutrition so people everywhere can lead healthy and happy lives.
We are grateful for the support of DSM, Herbalife and our supporters, said Logalbo. Gladys, a local community health worker, told me that as children in this part of Kenya are not well nourished due to a shortage of food, mothers are already eagerly using the home nutrition packets to provide their young children with the vitamins and minerals they need to grow healthy and strong.
About the Distribution Campaign:
The distribution of the MixMe home nutrition packets to children 6-24 months began on December 3 in Kajiado Central a region located in Rift Valley Province where the maternal mortality rates are high and children under five years of age are vitamin A deficient. The children will receive a monthly supply of MixMe packets during monthly clinic visits over the next six months. Community health workers will also carry out household visits to ensure the packets are being used correctly.
The health worker training took place from August through late November and was facilitated by the Ministry of Health Division of Nutrition officials with support from the World Food Programme and Feed the Children.
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GAIN and Future Fortified Reach Fundraising Goal to Put Nutrition on the Table for 20,000 Children in Kenya Today
