Flooding from Hurricane Harvey has affected 50 counties in Texas and pushed 30,000 people to abandon their homes and seek refuge in shelters, ABC news reported.
With much of the state’s infrastructure seriously damaged, a run to the grocery-store is out of the question to many—not to mention how difficult it will be for area retailers to restock their shelves, as NPR reported on the region’s emptying supermarkets.
Nature’s Bounty donates about $500,000 of nutrition products
A crucial part of the relief effort is getting nutrition-packed food items that can be easily transported by aid workers and are convenient enough to not need appliances to prepare, a role in which dietary supplement and functional food manufacturer The Nature’s Bounty Company saw itself fit in fulfilling.
“The Nature’s Bounty Co. has provided almost $500,000 in protein bar and ready-to-drink nutrition beverages,” a company spokesperson said in an email sent out to trade press. Brands within the company’s portfolio that have nutrition bars and ready-to-drink nutrition beverages include sports brand Met-RX and Balance.
The products were delivered to survivors via charities who are on the ground: Feed the Hungry, Feed the Children, American Red Cross, and the San Antonio Shelter.
“In addition, we have partnered with one of our Texas-based retail customers to provide an additional $100,000 in product donations,” the spokesperson added.
Advocare raises money, plans for hurricane aftermath
For Texas-based Advocare, a dietary supplement multi-level marketing company, its engagement in providing relief was not so much as a nutrition company, but more as a corporate citizen, senior manager of corporate communications Lindsay Bomar told NutraIngredients-USA.
“We are in Plano, about 400 miles from the heart of the destruction, but we have almost 65,000 distributors and customers in the area that was in the path of Harvey,” she said.
The company pledged to donate an additional $50,000 to its partner charity, The American Red Cross, and are matching other contributions dollar-for-dollar up to an additional $50,000. “We hope this will make a dent in the very long road ahead for those in central and southeast Texas and parts of Louisiana,” she said.
“Once the flood waters have all receded, we will assess other needs of our Distributors and customers impacted and will of course help as much as we can,” she added.
USANA True Health Foundations donates $130,000 to survivors
The philanthropic arm of another multi-level marketing company, Utah-based USANA, announced that it has donated $130,000 to be used for food, nutrition, and other aid to its long-time charity partners, The Children’ Hunger Fund and International Relief Teams.
It will also route 100% of all proceeds that go to its foundation’s Area of Greatest Need fund through Sept. 10 to help families whose lives were disrupted by the hurricane.
"Through the generosity of our Associates and other donors, the True Health Foundation will be able to distribute 27 pallets of food equaling over 15,000 meals," said Kevin Guest, chief executive officer at USANA, in a press release. "While disasters of this magnitude are sobering, we are grateful to have the ability and means available to assist and provide support where it is so desperately needed."