Dear Friends,

$15 Billion versus $134 Million. What’s the difference?

$15 Billion is what the world is spending every year on fighting AIDS. It is still not enough but it is a start. AIDS has star power; Bono, Jeff Sachs, Paul Farmer, Angelina Jolie, George Clayton, Elton John and so many more. AIDS has touched our lives personally with loved ones, family and friends dying from this awful disease. It has been the plague of our time.

$134 Million is what the world is spending every year on all programs to address chronic malnutrition. ALL. This means food programs, vitamin programs, everything. Chronic malnutrition is killing more children every year then the total number of people who are dying from AIDS. But chronic malnutrition has no stars and no celebrities rallying around it. No one is saying: This has to stop, this is simply unacceptable that any child should die or go blind or get a disease that is easily preventable with basic nutrition.

In January the Lancet issued a major paper that noted that 1/3 of all child and maternal deaths were due to chronic malnutrition. In May the Copenhagen Consensus issued a report that noted that in looking at everything from AIDS to terrorism, vitamins were the world’s best investment for helping undernourished children. We have the solution in our hands today to save millions of children’s lives. No research, no investment, no waiting. We just need to get vital nutrients and nutrition into the children’s hands who need it the most.

Thank goodness the world is finally investing in AIDS. Isn’t it about time we also starting investing in basic nutritionfor our children?

 

WHAT VITAMIN ANGELS HAS BEEN DOING IN JULY

Dominican Republic- Vitamin Angels sent 10 million child multivitamins and 110,000 albendazole tablets to begin year 2 of our 3 year program with the school districts in the Dominican Republic. Last year was a huge success and this year vitamins will reach 55,000 children.

FUNDRACING FOR VITAMIN ANGELS! -- No...that's not a typo!!!  Steven Spitz will be racing in this year's Ironman World Championship, October 11, on the Big Island of Hawaii, and raising funds for Vitamin Angels.  Steven's Ironman is being sponsored by Medical Research Institute (MRI®) and its parent company, Natrol, a long-time Vitamin Angels supporter.  Steven has named Vitamin Angels as his "official charity" for the Ironman's Janus Charity Challenge.  You can help Steven reach his goal by clicking here to donate any dollar amount  -- https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorreg/donorpledge.asp?
ievent=263050&supID=225950980.  Steven's goal is to raise a minimum of $2,500 between now and race day.  This will save 10,000 children from a lifetime of blindness this year!  Every dollar counts.

Join MaGiSTir and Vitamin Angels on July 25th for A Birthday Celebration!

A Santa Barbara local musician, and dear friend to Vitamin Angels, Robin Howe Mcilrath is celebrating his 40th birthday on June 25th and has chosen to use this milestone celebration to benefit and support Vitamin Angels mission to reduce vitamin deficiency around the world. The Event will be held at the Montecito Country Club on July 25th from 6:30pm to 11pm, food and drinks are included! Tickets are $40 and can be purchased at the door, ALL proceeds go to support Vitamin Angels! Join us for a night of festivities, fun and fundraising!

If you would like to purchase tickets ahead of time, or have any questions just call Vitamin Angels at
805-564-8400

Supermarket Guru declares Mac and Cheese Puffs a hit!

Phil Lempert of the Today Show declared Snikkidy Snacks’ Mac and Cheese Puffs a hit, rating it 95 out of 100 on the Supermarket

SUMMER READING

Are you looking for some exciting, interesting, and informative books to read this summer? Check out our suggested reading list.

6 NEW VIDEOS on Website!

Vitamin Angels has posted 6 new videos of our work around the world with Operation 20/20. Take a look at a video from India, Malawi, Mozambique, Indonesia, Belize or El Salvador and experience a vitamin distribution first hand. Learn about the struggles and challenges facing these countries and the efforts Vitamin Angels is putting forth to make a difference. A special thanks to Sevan Matossian and Grekian Pictures for the filming and production of these videos! Watch Now

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

JULY PROMOTIONS

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 website at www.VitaminAngels.org and check out all of the videos in our video section!

A Huge Thanks to the senior residents at Garden Courts
for holding a cookie sale and raising $400 for Vitamin Angels!!

Thanks to everyone who supported our work this month: our amazing BOD: Tom Aarts, Barclay Hope, Bill Sechrest, Elliott Balbert, Mehbs Remtulla, Anthony Zolezzi, Clayton Ajello, Peter Van Stolk and Jeff Markel; Steve Allen, Susan Haeger, Peter Hefele and James Tonkin on our BOA; Amy, Miranda and Steve at Pitch Publicity. Jeff Hilton and everyone at IMG; our amazing interns Sarah and Chase.

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 Rachel at: 805 564 8400 or rachel@VitaminAngels.org  to arrange for a financial contribution or a product donation.

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 makes all of the difference in the world!

Best,

Howard B. Schiffer
President and Founder
Vitamin Angels
PO Box 42029
Santa Barbara, CA  93140  USA
P: 805 564 8400
F: 805 564 8499
E: info@VitaminAngels.org

ONGOING PROGRAMS

  1. Belize - Through an arrangement with Spins, Pharmaca, Presence and the Belize Ministry of Health we have launched a 3 year program in Belize as part of Operation 20/20.  We will reach 25,000 Mayan children each year.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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 program partners are Direct Relief International, who will handle all to-country shipping and Batey Relief International, who will handle all in-country distribution.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  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. 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.