Lanz Vasallo's Fundraiser:

“The Vitamin A Project (Vitamin A To Reduce Malnutrition And Prevent Blindness)” benefits the programs of Helen Keller International. For $100, 100 children will receive Vitamin A supplements for one year.

Taken from The Helen Keller International website ( http://www.hki.org/ ):

"Nearly one billion people suffer from malnutrition caused by a lack of basic nutrients in their food. Malnutrition stunts both physical and mental health, causes blindness, and is implicated in nearly 40% of child deaths worldwide.
Exacerbated by a widening food crisis, the numbers of people suffering from the effects of malnutrition are staggering: 

- Malnutrition affects an estimated 1 billion children and adults in the developing world. It is the single biggest contributor to child mortality, and is implicated in the deaths of almost 10,000 children under five years of age every day.

- Hundreds of thousands of children go blind and even die each year because they lack adequate amounts of vitamin A in the food they eat.
Helen Keller International’s pioneering work in the 1970’s revealed the connection between vitamin A deficiency (VAD) and child survival. We collaborated in the groundbreaking research that first identified that controlling VAD not only can prevent a lifetime of darkness, but can also result in a 23-34% reduction in child mortality.

- Our work with vitamin A led us to expand our efforts to also address the life-threatening role played by the lack of other micronutrients in the diets of people living in developing countries. Deficiencies in iron and zinc, for example, can negatively impact the health, growth and survival of children, including their educational performance and immunity to illnesses, and the health and pregnancies of affected women."

Reducing malnutrition and preventing blindness are worldwide efforts. The team of Helen Keller International needs help to reach more places and save more lives.