Amway Charity Foundation announces Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Action to bring nutritious school lunches to more than 1 million rural Chinese children

NEW YORK, Sept. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- China is the world's second largest economy, yet tens of millions of rural Chinese children suffer from malnutrition. 

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Amway China, through its Amway Charity Foundation (ACF), announced a Commitment to Action at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting in New York that will bring 2,000 "Spring Sprouts Kitchens" to rural schools in the next two years, ensuring 1 million Chinese children have access to nutritious school lunches.

With additional partners brought together through CGI, Spring Sprouts Kitchens can reach even more of the millions of children not receiving adequate nutrition today.

"While the Chinese government mandates school attendance for children and provides food stipends for each student, there are few measures in place to ensure that these funds are used to feed these children and improve their nutritional outlook," said Audie Wong, president of Amway China and executive vice chairman of the Amway Charity Foundation. "School buildings often have no kitchen facilities, so millions of rural Chinese children are malnourished.  Spring Sprouts Kitchens are the result of a unique public-private partnership to solve this problem -- ensuring rigorous compliance with stipend standards as well as a focusing on healthy, nutritious meals to improve the nutrition of these children."

The Commitment to Action builds on the Spring Sprouts Kitchens that currently serve 754 rural schools and 377,000 students in 13 of the provinces that are home to the majority of the country's 61 million left-behind children, many millions of whom are malnourished. Ongoing nutrition education is provided for staff, children and families. "Through this program we will hire, train and monitor kitchen staff; source local food; and provide balanced, nutritious, daily lunches for the children," Wong added. "This effort will provide daily lunches for 1 million children in first through ninth grades. But this is only the beginning.  We hope other Clinton Global Initiative members will join us to expand the reach of the program to reach more of the tens of millions of children who need access to healthy, nutritious food through their schools."

In addition to the 1 million children to be served by this CGI Commitment to Action, more than 420,000 sustainable new jobs will be created and 15,000 farmers or small-scale producers will find a market for their fresh meats, eggs and vegetables based on food requirements of the Spring Sprout Kitchens.

Together with Amway, ACF has developed specifications for the sites that will receive a Spring Sprout Kitchen, including local governments' agreements to provide kitchen staff salary and weekly funds needed to purchase high quality, fresh, local food. Amway's procurement team implements and monitors the process until the kitchens have been installed by the local contractor and inspected.

A CGI Commitment to Action is a plan for addressing a significant global challenge. CGI supports the development of commitments by facilitating dialogue, providing opportunities to identify partners, showcasing the actions taken by commitment-makers and communicating results. CGI serves as a catalyst for action, but does not engage in the actual implementation of commitments.

About the Clinton Global Initiative
Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), an initiative of the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, convenes global leaders to create and implement innovative solutions to the world's most pressing challenges. CGI Annual Meetings have brought together more than 150 heads of state, 20 Nobel Prize laureates, and hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations and NGOs, major philanthropists, and members of the media. To date, CGI members have made more than 2,300 commitments, which are already improving the lives of more than 400 million people in over 180 countries. When fully funded and implemented, these commitments will be valued at $73.5 billion.

CGI also convenes CGI America, a meeting focused on collaborative solutions to economic recovery in the United States, and CGI University (CGI U), which brings together undergraduate and graduate students to address pressing challenges in their community or around the world and, this year, CGI Latin America, which will bring together Latin American leaders to identify, harness, and strengthen ways to improve the livelihoods of people in Latin America and around the world. For more information, visit clintonglobalinitiative.org and follow us on Twitter @ClintonGlobal and Facebook at facebook.com/clintonglobalinitiative.

About Amway Charity Foundation
Established in China in 2011, the Amway Charity Foundation (ACF) is the nation's first non-public foundation established by a multinational corporation and registered by China's Ministry of Civil Affairs, the highest authority for social welfare in China. ACF pioneered unique public/private cooperation on a national scale, which has become a catalyst for partnerships, financial support and volunteerism. Committed to helping children enjoy a healthier and happier childhood by providing them a level playing field for growth and opportunities with other Chinese children, ACF works with government agencies, non-profit organizations, citizens and foundations. Private philanthropy is an important and emerging sector in China.

About Amway
Alticor / Amway is the world's #1 direct selling business, ranked by 2012 global sales of $11.3 billion in the Direct Selling News Global 100, and based on the efforts of more than 3 million Amway distributors and more than 21,000 employees in more than 100 countries and territories worldwide. Founded in 1959 by entrepreneurs Rich DeVos and Jay Van Andel, and based in Ada, Michigan, U.S., Amway offers consumer products and business opportunities that are supported by a global agribusiness, manufacturing and logistics supply chain.

More than 900 scientists, engineers and technical professionals work in 75 R&D and quality assurance labs worldwide to support product development and create a culture of scientific excellence. Top-selling brands for Amway are NUTRILITE™ vitamin, mineral and dietary supplements, ARTISTRY™ skincare and color cosmetics, and eSpring™ water treatment systems. For company news, visit globalnews.amway.com.

SOURCE Amway