I recently had the privilege of attending the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the founding of Vitamin Angels. It was a gloriously fun event held at the beautiful Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Coast, California.
The event was a gathering of sponsors, donors, and others who have supported and worked with/for Vitamin Angels over the years. It included a terrifically fun golf tournament, lovely swag gifts from the sponsors, and a beautiful outdoor dinner with entertainment and short powerful speeches, accompanied by compelling video.
Those speeches told the story of Vitamin Angels. Founder Howard Schiffer eloquently spoke with a passion and emotion that was touching, not to mention tear inducing.
The mission of Vitamin Angels is so darn simple. Get much-needed Vitamin A doses to children/babies from 6 to 59 months of age who, without this twice-a-year dose of Vitamin A, risk blindness and other debilitating diseases or death. Over the last five years alone, Vitamin Angels reached more than 100 million children, saving untold numbers of lives.
How? With Vitamin A and a dedicated group of staff, international NGOs, sponsoring companies, and more. Dr. Shilpa Bhatte, an Indian doctor told the heart-warming story of what happened during a measles outbreak in Northern India earlier this year. Dodging and dealing with a usually horribly long approval process, everyone involved was able to get thousands of doses of Vitamin A to a remote region where measles had spread. This emergency effort likely prevented measles for hundreds of thousands of children, an illness which could have claimed the lives of those with already weak immune systems.
So simple; yet so impactful. Isn’t THIS why we are on this world? In my religion – Judaism – we are encouraged to do Tikkun Olam, which means to “Repair the World.” Further, it is said to simply try to do this “one person at a time.” I love this idea and I love how Vitamin Angels is performing such good works at a rate slightly above “one person at a time!” My understanding is they are working to reach upwards of 40,000,000 children just this year?
What can you do to help? Of course donations are welcomed and the simplest thing everyone can do. Visit vitaminangels.org. But, help spread the word. You can find them on Social Media such as Facebook and Twitter too. Share this post. Write your own.
