Philippines

No child should be without food.

Unfortunately, millions of children go hungry each day because their community cannot provide for them. To ensure that some of these children are fed, RAW purchases meals and funds programs in the Philippines to eradicate hunger and help build local infrastructure. In short, what we do is make the supplemental meals locally by using local employment and machines. That way, a small economy is created, loops can be formed, and the community is better off. Eventually, we plan to build these children up and make them part of our “future workers program.” We’re over 100,000 meals provided now, and the kids are doing better than expected!

The Start Right, Live Bright Nutrition Program

The Start Right, Live Bright Nutrition Program focuses on the manufacture and distribution of complementary food for infants, toddlers and young children during the vulnerable period of early growth. Providing them with the ingredients necessary for optimal growth and development of psychomotor functions, brain, growth, and cognitive functions, to aid in developing immunity versus infectious diseases, and help in preventing malnutrition.

Visit the Program Website

RAW was excited to hear about this opportunity and has bought & supplied over 100,000 meals so far for malnourished children in the Philippines! Below are just a few reasons why we partner with this amazing organization.

In the World Health Organization’s Report for the Global Consultation on Complementary Feeding (2002), it was reported that from six months onwards, breast milk alone is no longer sufficient to meet the needs of the growing child. Nutritional deficits in babies from 6-18 months can cause stunting, poor school performance, reduced productivity and social development that will continue throughout their lives. Deficits acquired at this age are difficult to compensate for later in childhood.

In the February 21, 2011 issue of TIME Magazine, it reported that in a study of British children and nutrition, it was shown that quality of nutrition contributed to higher IQ’s of children. After age 3, however, intelligence scores could not be changed with improved kid’s diets.

It has been noted that most of the feeding programs undertaken by both government and non-government organizations focus on the ages of 2 ½ years and older, when the children are already in either Day Care or Elementary. Thus NVC Foundation has opted to focus on the nutritional support requirements of infants and toddlers. In partnering with the RAW Foundation our goal is to create a sustainable loop. RAW purchases meals and funds programs to help build local infrastructure. In short what we do is make the supplemental meals locally using local employment and machines. That way a small economy is created and loops can be formed. Eventually we plan to build these children up and make them part of our “future workers program”.

Here is a partial list of names and information of the children that together we are helping. We are committed to these kids and we’re going to be feeding them for years until they grow out of the program. On behalf of each one of these children and their parents we thank you for your continued support of RAW products. Together we are making the world a little bit better!

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
– Winston Churchill

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Wine to Water – Response to typhoon Yolanda

In response to the devastating typhoon in the Philippines, Wine To Water is partnering with The RAW Foundation to reach those in need of life saving food and water. Because of your purchases and support of RAW products, together we were able to buy 100 Sawyer filters, and send Kyle to the Philippines for about a month to distribute them to the most affected areas! The revolutionary SawyerR filter uses kidney dialysis technology to purify water to 99.9999%. It is capable of supplying 295 gallons of water per day.

For more info on Wine to Water or to make a donation Click Here.

Wine to Water – CNN Hero: Doc Hendley

CNN Heroes update: Doc Hendley

(CNN) — At least one in six people worldwide doesn’t have access to clean water, and this contributes to about 1.5 million preventable deaths each year, according to the United Nations.

Doc Hendley, a top 10 CNN Hero in 2009, is trying to help change that. Through his nonprofit, Wine to Water, the former bartender from North Carolina has helped provide clean water to more than 150,000 people in 17 countries.

Wine-tasting events are one way Hendley and his group raise the funds that enable them to distribute water filters and help install wells in communities around the world. And in April, bartenders from 16 countries donated their tips to the cause.

Hendley recently talked with CNN about the water crisis and his efforts to help people impacted by the Syrian civil war and the recent typhoon in the Philippines.

CNN: What should people know about the water crisis?

Doc Hendley: It takes many women and children four and five hours, every single day, just to get water. And then it’s absolutely filthy, and it’s making their children sick. Diarrhea kills more children under 5 than AIDS, malaria and measles combined. And 88% of (those) deaths are caused by poor sanitation, unsafe drinking water and poor hygiene.

A lot of people ask me, “If this water crisis is so bad, how come we haven’t heard much about it?” Well, here in the West, we help support things that we can empathize with.

We know what it’s like to lose a loved one to a disease like cancer. We understand what it means to need a good, solid education for a child. So (those causes) get a lot of the spotlight. But it’s hard for us to empathize with the water crisis. We wash our cars; we water our lawn. We just can’t imagine what it’s like to not have access to water.

CNN: Why did you start working on this issue?

Hendley: I began raising funds to support the fight against the global water crisis back in 2004, and I had an opportunity to live in Darfur, Sudan, during the height of the genocide there. My job was to (work in) refugee camps and get them access to water.

When I first started witnessing these women and children and the effort they would go through for a cup of water, and then to see actually the water that they were providing to their kids — when you see that firsthand, you can’t help but be changed. When I came home, it’s all I could think about. I dreamed about it. So I decided this is what I want to do with my life.

CNN: Why did you get involved in the situation in Syria?

Hendley: Right now in Syria, every single day, thousands of people are fleeing their homes because of this fighting … going to an unknown future, with no resources.

In these (displacement) camps, a lot of the men have either been killed or they’re all fighting, so it’s mostly populated by children and women. The vast majority is children. And as you know, a lot of these kids’ systems are very weak, and they’re drinking filthy water. My first thought was, “Let’s see if we can get some water filters into these camps.”

Another big reason for me was that the first country I worked in, Sudan, was a predominantly Muslim country, and I’ve really felt a connection with the Muslim world ever since. I really wanted to get out there and reach out, to show that we want to help in any way we can.

CNN: What are you doing to help?

Hendley: We created a partnership with Zakat (a U.S.-based Muslim charity), and right now we’re actively working in two camps in the northwestern region, near border areas between Syria and Turkey.

I was able to (go) inside some of these camps, inside Syria. … The living conditions, they’re terrible.

On that trip, I was able to bring about 350 filters with me. Until we can get each household to have their own water filter, which is the ultimate goal, we have a couple of distribution areas where people can come with their buckets of water and run (it) through a number of filters in order to clean it.

When it’s not an emergency situation, we can go into an area and teach them, using their local resources, how to build their own water filter. But in a war zone, like what’s going on in Syria, we just need to get a clean water fix immediately.

Syria is the very first location that we’re using these Sawyer filters. We’re really excited about them. If they’re used properly, they will last 10 years and filter 250 gallons of water every day.

CNN: Do you ever worry about the risk?

Hendley: Going inside Syria reminds me a lot of my time (in Sudan). When I was younger, I was a little more reckless; I didn’t have as much to lose. Now I have a wife and two kids, and so I do find myself thinking, “Is this work really worth risking my life over?”

You know, when you see these families get to access clean water, it makes the answer pretty easy: Of course it’s worth it.

A lot of people think because the number is so big, what can one person really do? It’s just too overwhelming. But if you think, “I could help one other person or five other people or one village,” you can make a huge difference.

CNN: You were just in the Philippines, where you and Efren Penaflorida, the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year, were helping people impacted by the typhoon. How did that go?

Hendley: Having so much support from Efren and all of his contacts helped the process go much more smoothly than it normally would.

We brought about 2,000 filters, and we’ve been able to partner with a local water company, Maynilad, that’s helping us provide 500 more. They are interested in doing even more, so with their support we now may be able to reach out to a huge number of people. That really upped the ante for us. …

There’s just so much to do in the Philippines. There are so many disasters there — not just typhoons, but earthquakes. And lots of villages we went to didn’t have clean water before the typhoon, and now things are much worse. So there’s lots of work to do there, but we’re excited about having the chance to help.

For more info on Wine to Water or to make a donation

Visit the Wine To Water