FEELING THE LOVE

- Liane Weintraub, Editor-in-Chief

On Valentine’s Day, we are thrilled that people all over the country are choosing to give their loved ones our delicious organic gummies (now with free shipping on our website!), but deep down, nothing makes us “feel the love” more than this…

One of the most wonderful things about what we do is the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives.  Every day, all over this country, we are able to reach families in one of the most special and cherished aspects of their lives – the food they eat!  We take heart in our ability to help make parents feel secure and to put smiles on children’s faces through our products.

But we wanted to be able to do more – to reach the people who might not be able to buy our products due to their life circumstances.  In an ideal world, all families should have access to the highest quality organic foods, and all children should enjoy fun snacks that make them feel like the carefree, joyous kids they should be.  For this reason, about 2 years ago, we began to support an incredible, international relief organization called Feed the Children, and now we are very proud that we have a formal partnership with FTC (look for their logo on our new packaging!).

For 30 years, FTC has delivered food, medicine, clothing and other necessities to individuals, children and families who lack these essentials due to famine, war, poverty or natural disaster.  We have been actively supporting FTC’s domestic (US) food program.  Now, more than ever, FTC’s benevolence is needed so desperately in Haiti.  It is with great pride that we share with you some of the very important work this wonderful agency is doing:

FTC has established a base of operations providing medical relief for 12,000 people in the Souers Salesiennes/St. Bosco camp in Carrefour, Haiti – FTC’s medical clinic in Carrefour, established in 1981, normally serving about 7,000-8,000 people each month, suffered extensive damage & all but one of the staff has now been accounted for

Luckily, 2 ½ tons of Vitameal were salvaged from the facility & it was distributed to the people of Haiti, providing 60,000 meals

FTC has treated hundreds of people for infections & broken bones

The World Food Programme & Unicef are partnering with FTC to provide food & milk for the entire camp. The World Health Organization is providing medications & Oxfam Great Britain is providing a latrine

FTC’s medical staff in Haiti has been asked by the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance to head up the relief efforts for one the of the five Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps that have been established in the Carrefour region

FTC has more than 100 children in the Child Sponsorship Program in Haiti & sadly, at this point, has received information that eight of those children did not survive

Since the earthquake struck, FTC has prepared shipments of food, water, clothing, tents, sleeping bags, medical supplies and cleaning supplies to be sent by air and water for the relief effort – air transport from Chicago has been provided by United Airlines

FTC Canada, a branch of Feed The Children, also has a medical clinic in Haiti called Mission of Hope, which is providing basic medical care