Every day, about 2,500 children in seven schools across Northern Haiti receive a fortified peanut butter snack thanks to a generous grant from Astellas Pharma, U.S. These peanut butter sachets, called Vita Mamba, contain nearly as many micronutrients and as much protein as a Stop Hunger Now meal. For schools that do not have the resources to cook Stop Hunger Now meals on site, these snacks, produced by Meds & Foods for Kids, act as an innovative alternative.
Our partnership with Meds & Food for Kids is just one of the efforts made possible by a $100,000 grant given to Stop Hunger Now by Astellas Pharma in 2015 to commemorate the company’s 10th anniversary. These funds have been used to provide life-changing aid in both Haiti and Nepal.
Meds & Food for Kids is a nonprofit social enterprise whose plant in Cap-Haïtien manufactures Vita Mamba. The plant directly employs 50 people at the factory, in addition to operating agriculture and nutrition initiatives. Meds & Food for Kids works with more than 200 families to teach them how to grow increased-yield, higher-quality peanuts, which they then buy to incorporate into their products like Vita Mamba. This partner supports clinics and areas not currently reached by Stop Hunger Now’s existing programs, and helped to identify the seven schools that are receiving Vita Mamba based on need. This program began in February 2016, and will run through the end of this year.
Grant Supports Nepal Disaster Relief
More than 21,000 people were injured when a devastating earthquake struck Nepal in April 2015, and the need for emergency and medical supplies increased drastically. Using Astellas grant funds and partnering with MAP International, Stop Hunger Now was able to provide critical medical supplies to Lalgadh Hospital in the Dhanusha District of Nepal. This hospital specializes in treating leprosy patients, but treats all types of health issues, providing care for more than 73,000 outpatients annually.
Two Interagency Emergency Health Kits were shipped to the hospital via air freight, containing enough medicine and supplies to treat 20,000 patients for 90 days.
“The medicine and equipment we received were all useful,” a hospital representative reported. “We have been using them at the hospital in the emergency department, patient department, outreach clinic, and maternal and child health clinic.”
Stop Hunger Now is proud to work with the partners who have helped facilitate this work, enabling us to make an impact together. Working to end world hunger is a constantly evolving field, requiring innovative solutions like these to reach our goal by the year 2030 and impact the lives of people around the globe.