The Transformational Wellness Network Interviews Vitamin Angels' Founder, Howard Schiffer
As a founding supporter of Vitamin Angels, Rainbow Light has helped provide life-saving prenatal vitamins to mothers and babies around the world for over twenty years. In 2015 alone, Rainbow Light donated enough prenatal supplements to support the full Vitamin Angels outreach program to the entire country of India. 10,600 moms and babies received life-changing nutrients for a full year.
Can Vitamins Change the World? Nobel Laureates Say, Yes.
The Copenhagen Consensus is an advisory group made up of world economists, including Nobel Laureates, who research the relative cost and benefits of addressing the world’s most critical problems. Competition for aid dollars is fierce, every bit as competitive as for-profit enterprises. Organizations like the Copenhagen Consensus, Charity Navigator, and Givewell provide policy makers and philanthropist a lens to view return on investment in terms of improved lives and Global Good. According to the Copenhagen Consensus 2015 report every dollar spent to end childhood under nutrition yields up to 40 dollars in global good. Addressing micro-nutrient shortfalls leads to lifelong health and cognitive benefits and creates positive ripples that span generations.
In stark terms, one dose of Vitamin A every six months can prevent childhood blindness and boost growth rates and immune function. Vitamin Angels’ cost to supply one child with Vitamin A for an entire year is roughly 25 cents, including international shipping, warehousing, local staffing, and distribution.
The Life-Changing Power of Vitamins
Vitamin Angels’ founder and president, Howard Schiffer, began his career as a midwife when he was in his early twenties. He explains, “Along the way, I started learning about nutrition and the importance of vitamins and minerals during pregnancy.”
Howard saw first-hand how supplementing women’s diets with essential vitamins and minerals during and after pregnancy made an immense impact on the health of both mother and child. It led him to start a nutritional supplement company, where he learned that for just pennies per child, high-dose supplemental Vitamin A could eliminate most cases of childhood blindness. When he realized that such basic but critical interventions could create a positive, lifelong impact on under-nourished children, he created Vitamin Angels, which now serves 40 million children in 50 countries around the world including the US.
Ongoing clinical research continues to underscore the immense impact that prenatal vitamins have on infant health as well as the health of mothers. Providing prenatal vitamins to mothers before they get pregnant, during pregnancy, and throughout breastfeeding supports a child’s optimal cognitive and physical health. In fact, reducing micro-nutrient deficiencies in children is the #1 Smart Development Goal established by the Copenhagen Consensus Center, the think tank of world economists that researches the smartest solutions for the world's biggest problems.
Rainbow Light & Vitamin Angels - Making the World a Brighter Place
Every purchase of Rainbow Light supplements directly supports the 1% for Global Good program, creating benefits now and for generations to come. Rainbow Light donates 1% of all products sold in the form of vitamins to women and children in food insecure regions in the U.S. and around the world. With Rainbow Light, you receive meaningful health benefits while at the same time, paying it forward through high-impact micro-nutrient donations that address the problems associated with chronic and cyclical under-nutrition. Together, we’re working to end global under-nutrition and foster a vibrant state of health in families everywhere.
A Very Special Thank You From Our Friends at Vitamin Angels
