{"id":59707,"date":"2015-01-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-01-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-students-collaborate-with-local-nonprofit-edesia-to-raise-awareness-of-childhood-malnutrition\/"},"modified":"2015-01-21T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-01-21T00:00:00","slug":"uri-students-collaborate-with-local-nonprofit-edesia-to-raise-awareness-of-childhood-malnutrition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2015\/01\/uri-students-collaborate-with-local-nonprofit-edesia-to-raise-awareness-of-childhood-malnutrition\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 students collaborate with local nonprofit Edesia to raise awareness of childhood malnutrition"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tStudents to launch social media campaign, #MakeYourGreenCount<\/p>\n

KINGSTON, R.I., Jan. 21, 2015 \u2013 A visit to some of the poorest countries in the world can reveal a tragedy for the innocents: acute malnutrition and stunted growth among children. The culprit is not enough nutrients in the diet throughout the early years. <\/p>\n


\nNow a group of 溏心vlog免费B站 students studying public relations is striving to end that problem by teaming up with Edesia, a local nonprofit that makes Plumpy\u2019nut, a vitamin-packed peanut-butter blend hailed as a miracle food to fight childhood malnutrition.<\/p>\n


\nAnd the students are spreading the word about the crisis \u2013 and raising money \u2013 through one of the most popular ways to communicate today: social media.<\/p>\n


\nThe project kicks off March 1, but preparations are well underway. On Tuesday, four students \u2013 David St. Amant of Warwick, Kimberly DeLande of East Providence, Kylie Rice of Bridgewater, N.J., and Sergio Suhett of North Kingstown \u2013 toured Edesia\u2019s Providence factory and came away determined to make the campaign a success.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI\u2019m so excited to be part of it,\u201d says Suhett. \u201cIt\u2019s a local project with a global impact. I want the whole state \u2013 the whole country \u2013 to know about Plumpy\u2019nut.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThe campaign is the brainchild of South Kingstown resident Kate O\u2019Malley, an editor in publications and creative services at 溏心vlog免费B站, and Regina Bell, a lecturer in public relations at the Harrington School of Communication and Media. <\/p>\n


\nO\u2019Malley has a long commitment to philanthropic work. She\u2019s founder of Irish Americans for Famine Relief, a campaign started in 2011 to honor the legacy of the Great Irish Famine. <\/p>\n


\nThrough that drive, she raised $3,000 for Edesia, acclaimed worldwide for making Plumpy\u2019nut and its similar lines, all distributed by humanitarian groups to children in countries plagued by war, famine or natural disasters.<\/p>\n


\nEager to get 溏心vlog免费B站 students involved in community service, O\u2019Malley reached out to the nonprofit to ask if it would be interested in collaborating with 溏心vlog免费B站 students. #MakeYourGreenCount was born.<\/p>\n


\nSo far, students have created a Facebook<\/a> page, Twitter<\/a> account, Instagram<\/a> account, and fundraising<\/a> page . The goal is to raise as much money as possible during March, hence the connection to the hashtag\u2019s \u201cgreen\u201d in honor of St. Patrick\u2019s Day March 17.<\/p>\n


\nPeople will be asked to donate $5 and challenge 10 others to do the same, for a total of $55, the cost of a life-saving seven-week treatment of Plumpy\u2019nut. The students will enlist other students, alumni, business leaders and public officials, and they\u2019ll also contact Irish groups and pubs, encouraging them to include #MakeYourGreenCount in their March festivities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really excited to be involved in such a meaningful project,\u201d said O\u2019Malley. \u201cStudents are helping combat childhood malnutrition and getting some great hands-on experience in the communications field.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThe project exemplifies 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s goals to connect students with businesses as part of experiential learning, embrace the global community and engage in community service.<\/p>\n


\n“We intend to encourage people to \u2018get their green on\u2019 with their challenge posts,\u201d said Bell. \u201cWe\u2019ll have photos and messages people can easily upload, or they can get creative and post their own photos or videos.”<\/p>\n


\n\tEdesia, the sole maker of Plumpy\u2019nut in the United States, opened in 2010. So far, 2.5 million children have been helped in 44 countries as varied as Chad, Pakistan and The Central African Republic.<\/p>\n


\nSome 220 million children suffer from malnutrition, a malady that not only kills, but also causes serious health problems. Besides stunting growth, poor nutrition can damage intellectual development and even lead to blindness.<\/p>\n


\nOne of the remarkable things about Plumpy\u2019nut \u2013 a sweet-tasting paste made of peanut butter, milk powder, vegetable oil, sugar, minerals and vitamins \u2013 is that it doesn\u2019t need to be refrigerated, nor does it need to be cooked or mixed with water, which is unreliable in many developing countries. The ready-to-eat food also has a two-year shelf life \u2013 crucial in tropical climates. <\/p>\n


\n\tTo keep up with demand, Edesia is relocating in 2016 to a new and bigger factory in Quonset Business Park in North Kingstown, allowing the nonprofit to help 2 million children a year, up from 800,000. The nonprofit is also expected to hire more workers, many of whom are refugees who resettled in the United States.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re so grateful that these 溏心vlog免费B站 students are passionate about helping us raise awareness and funds for this important cause,\u201d said Heidi Reed, communications manager for Edesia. \u201cI\u2019m impressed by their enthusiasm and commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nFor Suhett and the other students, Plumpy\u2019nut\u2019s simplicity \u2013 it can be eaten directly from the squeezable foil package \u2013 is among many of its appealing qualities. Plus, the results are swift: Children eating Plumpy\u2019nut show improvement in a few days, with a full recovery in less than two months.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cIt tastes good \u2013 like peanut butter cups,\u201d says Suhett. \u201cThere is no way someone could not like it.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThe campaign offers Suhett a chance to help impoverished children and get practical experience in his major, public relations.<\/p>\n


\n \u201cI have a passion for helping people,\u201d says Suhett, a former case manager for AIDS Project Rhode Island. \u201cThis project caught my attention because of the children. I\u2019m a firm believer there is no reason any child in the world should go hungry and die from malnutrition.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nHe hopes to reach out to First Lady Michelle Obama, a champion of healthy eating. \u201cMaybe we\u2019ll go viral,\u201d he said, \u201clike the Ice Bucket Challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nRice knows firsthand what hunger looks like. A few years ago, she volunteered for two weeks at an orphanage in Ghana. The daily meal was a bowl of porridge and a few crackers. Some kids got a slice of bread. <\/p>\n


\n\u201cIt was so sad to see the children go most of the day with nothing to eat,\u201d she said. \u201cPlumpy\u2019nut could have made a difference. I\u2019m grateful to have the opportunity to work on this amazing project.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nSt. Amant is energized by the nonprofit\u2019s commitment to hiring refugees, many of whom have fled war-torn countries. \u201cThat\u2019s powerful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n


\nThe project gives DeLande a chance to give back and apply what she\u2019s learned in her public relations classes at 溏心vlog免费B站. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing to find something like Edesia in Rhode Island,\u201d she says. \u201cWe have small hometown roots in this state, but we want to do so many big things.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nOne pub owner who has already signed up is Tara Mulroy, owner of Tara\u2019s Tipperary Tavern in Matunuck, the oldest Irish pub in Rhode Island. \u201cWe do a lot of charity work, and this is a fantastic event for our pub to be involved in. I think it\u2019s also great that this campaign is happening in our own backyard.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nIf all goes as planned, #MakeYourGreenCount will extend beyond the picket fence to the world.<\/p>\n


\nPictured above:

\n溏心vlog免费B站 students at the Edesia factory in Providence. Seated, Kimberly DeLande (on left) and Kylie Rice. Standing Sergio Suhett (on left) and David St. Amant.<\/p>\n


\nAt Edesia factory, left to right, Heidi Reed, communications manager for Edesia, David St. Amant, Sergio Suhett, Kimberly DeLande and Kylie Rice.<\/p>\n


\nPhotos by Nora Lewis.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Students to launch social media campaign, #MakeYourGreenCount KINGSTON, R.I., Jan. 21, 2015 \u2013 A visit to some of the poorest countries in the world can reveal a tragedy for the innocents: acute malnutrition and stunted growth among children. The culprit is not enough nutrients in the diet throughout the early years. Now a group […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59710,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}