MEMC Foundation Donates to Help Fight Malnourishment in Haiti

ST. PETERS, Mo., Feb. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The MEMC Foundation, a charitable foundation funded by MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc., has donated $25,000 to Meds & Food for Kids (MFK). MFK is a St. Louis-based charity dedicated to saving the lives of Haiti's malnourished children and other nutritionally vulnerable people.

Meds & Food for Kids produces peanut-based ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) – known in Haiti as Medika Mamba – using local Haitian ingredients and labor. The organization partners with Haitian healthcare providers to distribute Medika Mamba.

"We choose not to import Medika Mamba but to make it in Haiti and employ Haitians," said Dr. Patricia Wolff, founder of Meds & Food for Kids. "We welcome this vital donation from the MEMC Foundation in helping to expand this life-saving program."

"As a global organization, MEMC feels a strong desire to help when disaster strikes anywhere in the world," said Sean Hunkler, MEMC's Senior Vice President of Customer Advocacy. "Meds & Food for Kids has a very smart approach for nourishing Haiti's children, and we're proud to support a St. Louis organization and their relief efforts in Haiti. Additionally, MEMC employees are undertaking further fund-raising efforts to increase our contribution to Haiti in the wake of the earthquake there."

For further information or to make a donation, please contact Meds & Food for Kids at (314) 420-1634, or visit the website http://mfkhaiti.org/.

About Meds & Food for Kids

Meds & Food for Kids saves the lives of Haiti's malnourished children by producing and distributing highly nutritious foods, including Medika Mamba, a ready-to-use therapeutic food endorsed by the World Health Organization and UNICEF. Because of its commitment to Haiti's long-term development, MFK produces Medika Mamba in Haiti, with Haitian labor, and with many Haitian raw materials.

Dr. Wolff, Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Washington University's School of Medicine in St. Louis, founded Meds & Food for Kids in response to her frustration of watching malnourished Haitian children needlessly die. After visiting RUTF pioneer and Washington University colleague Dr. Mark Manary in Malawi, Dr. Wolff was inspired to transfer the best-practice therapy of RUTF to Haiti in 2003. 

MFK is a registered non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation in the United States and a registered Non-Governmental Organization in Haiti. 

About the MEMC Foundation

The MEMC Foundation was established in 2007 to help those in need.  The foundation's contributions are largely employee directed, and particularly focused on the communities in which MEMC operates.  Previously the foundation has donated to multiple charitable organizations including, for example, charities for children, leukemia & lymphoma, as well as to relief efforts to help victims of earthquakes, hurricanes and other disasters.

About MEMC

MEMC is a global leader in the manufacture and sale of wafers and related intermediate products to the semiconductor and solar industries. With the recent acquisition of SunEdison, MEMC is also a developer of solar power projects and North America's largest solar energy services provider.

MEMC has been a pioneer in the design and development of silicon wafer technologies for 50 years. With R&D and manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, MEMC enables the next generation of high-performance semiconductor devices and solar cells.  

MEMC's common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "WFR" and is included in the S&P 500 Index. For more information about MEMC, please visit www.memc.com.

SOURCE MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.