"Amway distributors and employees have created positive change in the world, one person and one action at a time," said Amway Chairman Steve Van Andel.
The report features the Amway One by One Campaign for Children, through which the company says it has reached 10 million children worldwide since its inception in 2003. Among the program’s achievements in 2012 were nutritional, education and medical support for children around the world. In Vietnam, 4,000 children received corrective dental surgeries or other medical support.
In Indonesia, Amway employees and distributors donated $164,000 in the immediate aftermath of the 2006 earthquake that devastated the city of Yogyakarta on the island of Java to help rebuild two schools and have continued that support with monthly contributions to buy books and school suppliers.
In Thailand, Amway donations funded 25 mobile libraries, and in Japan overseas study scholarships were provided to 10 students whose families were affected by the 2011 tsunami.
Nutrition intervention
The report also detailed progress on Amway’s Nutrilite Little Bits campaign. The program, which started in 2011, provides packets of powdered vitamins and nutrients that can be added to the food children are familiar with eating.
Progress of the nutrition intervention program is then tracked. A six-month pilot study using the approach with about 150 children in Mexico found that it reduced both the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia by nearly 90% and the prevalence
of stunting by nearly 40%. The program has since been expanded in Mexico and has started in Zambia as well.
The report also detailed the strides the company says it is making in its energy footprint. The company has four manufacturing locations in Ada, MI, Buena Park, CA, Ho Chih Min City, Vietnam and Guangzhou, China. The goals for these plants to be achieved by 2014 are a 95% waste recycling rate, a 10% reduction in water usage, a 15% rate of utilization of renewable energy resources and a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The company also broke ground in 2012 on a new production facility in Quincy, WA.
Since the company’s founding in 1959, more than $450 million has been donated to causes in the countries where Amway operates, the report said.
Amway is one of the world’s largest network marketing companies as is one of the world’s largest distributors of dietary supplements via its NutriLite brands. Alticor Inc., parent company of Amway, reported global sales of $11.3 billion in 2012.