Companies Seek $100,000 to Help Haiti Victims
By Pork news source
| Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Meds & Food for Kids, Novus International and World Trade Center Saint Louis have launched a new campaign to raise $100,000 to provide life-saving peanut-based food to victims of the Haiti earthquake, the companies have announced.
“Medika Mamba,” a fortified, peanut-butter-based, ready-to-use-therapeutic food endorsed by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, could be one of the most effective life-savers among victims of the disastrous earthquakes in Haiti. The three St. Louis-area organizations are working hard to ensure that this lifeline continues to be available during the disaster relief period and beyond.
Meds & Food for Kids , a St. Louis based non-profit with operations in Haiti since 2003, is the focus of a $100,000 Challenge Campaign launched today by Novus International in partnership with the World Trade Center Saint Louis. The goal of the challenge campaign is to raise $100,000 by Friday, Feb. 12, to fund the production of as much Medika Mamba as possible to help the injured and malnourished Haitian children and their families.
The latest death toll in Haiti is estimated at 150,000 and an estimated 2 million Haitians are homeless according to government reports.
In support of this initiative, Novus International President and Chief Executive Officer Thad Simons issued communication to all worldwide Novus employees urging them to make earthquake relief donations to MFK or similar organizations committed to assisting Haiti from disaster through to rebuilding.
Novus International, a St. Charles-based company and a leading developer of animal health and nutrition programs for the poultry, pork, beef, dairy, aquaculture, and companion animal industries worldwide, made the first corporate donation of $10,000 to the Challenge Campaign. Additionally, Novus will match employee donations, dollar-for-dollar.
St. Louis area residents, businesses and corporations are urged to donate to MFK by clicking on Medika Mamba Challenge.
Patricia Wolff, professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Washington University’s School of Medicine, founded Meds & Food for Kids in 2003 in response to her frustration of watching Haitian children needlessly die due to malnutrition.
After visiting RUTF pioneer and Washington University colleague Mark Manary in Malawi, she was inspired to transfer that knowledge to help treat malnourished Haitian families.
Novus International’s Simons believes that partnering with the World Trade Center Saint Louis is a pivotal way of engaging the international trade community in supporting a local non-profit.
Simons said the World Trade Center Saint Louis is a huge asset in this effort because of its international business contacts, market research and global influence.
“The Haiti disaster is unprecedented and needs the support from all of us,” said World Trade Center Saint Louis Executive Director Tim Nowak.
Source: Novus International
