vitamin angels :: giving campaign

Fighting childhood undernutrition, 100 Days of Giving campaign aims to save 2 million lives

On September 23rd, Vitamin Angels, a non-profit charitable organization, launched its 100 Days of Giving campaign aimed at raising a half a million dollars through public and sponsorship donations to help give undernourished infants and children a brighter future. As we approach the halfway point in the initiative, Vitamin Angels recently released an infographic and additional videos to help illustrate the 100 Days of Giving initiative, what Vitamin Angels is and how a $0.25 can mean the survival for a child. See the infographic in the side bar of this page and click on the image to see a larger version.

The campaign, which runs through January 1st, 2012 aims to raise $250,000 through public donations, which will then be matched by a group of sponsors for a total of $500,000. While that $500,000 goal is both impressive and lofty, the reach of that kind of funding is simply awe- inspiring. Since the cost for Vitamin Angels to reach one child with vitamin A for one year is merely $0.25, that $500,000 will be used to provide lifesaving nutrients to 2 million children.

“Most people don’t know that chronic malnutrition is the underlying cause of death for more children than AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis,” said Howard B. Schiffer, President of Vitamin Angels. “The amazing thing is, malnutrition is solvable. We don’t need to do any research. We don’t have to try to find a cure. Just getting nutrients, especially vitamin A, out to children is the lowest cost, highest impact intervention you can provide. We invite you to join us in giving children worldwide a chance to lead meaningful and productive lives.”

Worldwide, an estimated 190 million children under five suffer from vitamin A deficiency (VAD), a major underlying cause of child mortality and blindness. However, with one dose of vitamin A every six months we can help prevent VAD blindness and reduce under-five child mortality by an average of 24% in at-risk populations.