We're Fighting the Horrors of Malnourishment

The children of El Salvador suffer from severe malnourishment. Nutrient-enhanced diets or daily multi-vitamins can easily cure many of the diseases that these children suffer from. For example, many children suffer from a lack of iron in their systems. The general health of these children would be greatly increased by supplemental iron in their diets. Roughly 20% of the Salvadoran children suffer from moderate to severe stunting - a severe indicator of malnutrition. Sadly, if malnutrition sets in before a child turns two years old, the consequences are usually permanent. In El Salvador, the malnutrition prevalence for children under 5 years old has been as high as 19% percent in recent years. Deficiency of vitamin A is another key example of the lack of drug supplementation in El Salvador. In 2007, only 20% of children (ages 0-5) received one or more doses of vitamin A supplementation and only 13% received full coverage. Therefore, most children of El Salvador are not necessarily starving; rather, they have limited diets that result in malnourishment. SalvaVita plans to change this.

SalvaVita is a health and nutrition non-profit run by high school students from the Cleveland area. SalvaVita successfully delivered 131,000 vitamins to the Community Oscar Arnulfo Romero (COAR) in Zaragoza, El Salvador, in June 2010. SalvaVita is in the process of delivering another 787,000 vitamins to El Salvador at this time. COAR is a school for 800 impoverished children, grades K-12, that also supplies foster care for 120 abandoned children. COAR also has a medical and dental clinic as well as a pharmacy that provides the community of Zaragoza with basic pharmaceuticals. Besides COAR, SalvaVita has also donated to the Parish of Santo Domingo in Chiltuipán and the Parish of Inmaculada Concepción in La Libertad.

SalvaVita will continue to collect monetary and vitamin donations that will be sent to COAR and other children's clinics in El Salvador. The COAR Peace Mission, the recipient of the donations, is a 501c3 charitable corporation which raises funds for COAR in El Salvador. All donations are tax-deductible. Any monetary donations received will be used to pay for the transportation of the remaining vitamins to El Salvador. After that, all money will be used to buy vitamins from Salvadoran pharmaceutical distributors. To donate, please click here or Contact Us!

SalvaVita President Keven Lenahan and Dr. William of Santo Domingo Parish.