Herbalife launches global nutrition program

MANILA, Philippines - United States’ hottest football team, the LA Galaxy, which took the country by storm during its exhibition game against the Philippines’ pride, the Azkals, not only astonished millions of Filipino fans but also inspired the less fortunate, making an extra effort to spend a little more time with the abandoned children at SOS Children’s Village.

The whole team took a sabbatical before the game and met with the children of SOS through the efforts of Herbalife Philippines, goofed around, and gave the children tips not only on how to play excellent football but also how to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle.

Herbalife, LA Galaxy’s major sponsor and partner for at least five years now, launched last year its nutrition program through the Herbalife Family Foundation (HFF), a non-profit organization committed to helping children at risk, the Casa Herbalife Program here for the SOS Children’s Villages Foundation.

Through Casa Herbalife, a good-nutrition program for kids, over 600 children housed in eight SOS villages — Bataan, Calbayog, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Lipa, Manila, and Tacloban — will be provided with healthy meals every day. “The program will support the nutritional needs of the children, especially those who were newly transferred to SOS Village,” said ChoongHoon Kim, general manager of Herbalife Philippines.

Through this nutrition initiative, the children from SOS Village get to enjoy the same nutritional care LA Galaxy players are accorded with. This same nutrition is the key formula why the Galaxies have been winning in the recent years.

Under the program, SOS Children’s Village will receive a one-year $25,000 grant from HFF, which will be used to improve the nutrition of the children in their homes. The mechanics of the program include monitoring of the health progress of the children every quarter with the assistance of SOS Children’s Villages’ doctors and nutritionists. It will also help create a nutritional plan that can be implemented by SOS in all their branches nationwide as they focus on the nutrition of the children under their care.

“Herbalife is committed to bringing a positive change to people’s lives through good nutrition and Casa Herbalife lets us help the kids who need it most. In the Philippines, about 3.3 million preschool children are underweight and 3.5 million are underheight. Herbalife, as a nutrition company, would like to contribute in improving the condition of Filipino children, especially their health,” says YoungHee Chung, vice president and sub-region head for Herbalife Philippines and Korea.

SOS Children’s Villages is a place for orphaned, abandoned, and neglected children and children in extreme difficult circumstances, where they can have the chance to belong to a home and family.

Since 1994, the HFF has donated more than $6 million to help children in need in more than 25 countries by offering support in overcoming life’s most basic challenges, from escaping poverty, hunger, and abuse to receiving adequate medical care and education. The HFF is a non-profit organization supported by Herbalife International, Inc., and its independent distributors and employees to help children at risk around the world.

For more information, log on to http://www.herbalifeww.com/ph.