CLEVELAND – April 23, 2024 -- Earlier this year, Vitamix Corporation and its philanthropic arm, the Vitamix Foundation, were selected to join the White House Challenge to End Hunger and Build Healthy Communities. As part of this initiative, the two organizations have committed $3.4 million in product donations and grant funding over the next seven years to enhance the knowledge, availability, and enjoyment of whole food nutrition for children and families by 2030.
The White House Challenge aims to accelerate investment in, and progress toward, ending hunger and reducing diet-related diseases by 2030. The Challenge is consistent with the Biden-Harris Administration's strategy to improve access to nourishing food in the United States. Vitamix is among numerous organizations from public, private, and non-profit sectors supporting the Challenge.
"We are proud to be selected as a partner to this critical White House initiative aimed at improving access to affordable, nutritious food," said Steve Laserson, Chief Executive Officer of Vitamix. "Advocating for the advantages of whole-food nutrition has been part of the company’s DNA since its founding over a century ago. We are eager to share our deep knowledge of whole-food eating to benefit our nation.”
After joining the White House Challenge in late February, the Vitamix Foundation held fast to its commitment and has already awarded nearly $500,000 in grants to the following programs:
● Nourishing Beginnings, a program that partners with organizations utilizing community health workers to provide medically tailored groceries and other resources to pregnant people from underserved communities in Cleveland, OH (Case Western Reserve University)
● FLiPRx Produce Prescription Intervention and cooking classes for young families in low-income neighborhoods experiencing food insecurity in Washington, DC (Children’s National Hospital)
● Development and implementation of nutrition education competencies and resources for medical trainees and health care professionals (Teaching Kitchen Collaborative)
● Creation of the Hunger, Nutrition & Health Action Collaborative to support collective action by organizations focused on eradicating hunger, improving access to healthy food, and improving the health of our communities (CDC Foundation)
Vitamix Corporation also operationalized the call-to-action and has made over 170 donations so far this year. The company provided more than 20% of donated products directly to families and children through partner organizations to support access to whole-food nutrition and the remainder of donations support nutrition education in schools and communities.
“Like the Vitamix Corporation, prioritizing whole-food nutrition to enhance health and wellness is central to our vision, and this year marks the Vitamix Foundation’s 10th anniversary,” said Natalie Haynes, Executive Director of the Vitamix Foundation. “After a decade of dedicated effort and relationship building, we saw this as an opportunity to deepen our commitment to a cause so vital to the health of mothers, children, and their future generations. All people deserve access to healthy and culturally-centered food, and I couldn’t be more optimistic that by working together with other mission-aligned organizations we can achieve the White House’s goal to end hunger by 2030.”
For more information about Vitamix, visit www.vitamix.com, and for the Vitamix Foundation visit, www.vitamixfoundation.org. To learn more about the White House Challenge to End Hunger and Build Healthy Communities, go here.
About Vitamix
The Vitamix family of companies, privately held and family-owned since 1921, is currently celebrating its 103rd anniversary. Millions of people around the world employ Vitamix machines to prepare nutritious whole foods in their home kitchens and deliver exceptional and consistent results in their commercial kitchens. The company’s commercial customer list reads like a who’s who of major restaurant chains, and gourmet chefs say their Vitamix machines are as important to them as their knives. The company developed the first true commercial production-grade blender in the early 1990s, igniting the smoothie and frozen coffee movements, and has been named the Best in Class Overall beverage blender for nine consecutive years by readers of Foodservice Equipment & Supplies magazine. Vitamix continues to win awards for its products, culture, and user experience and is found in more than 130 countries. The company is headquartered in Olmsted Township, Ohio, near Cleveland. For more information, please visit vitamix.com.
About The Vitamix Foundation
The Vitamix Foundation is a nonprofit, grantmaking organization established by Vitamix to help shape a nation where diet-driven illness does not exist. Its mission is to collaborate and partner with others to further the knowledge, consumption, and enjoyment of plant-based whole foods. Grantmaking focuses on advancing nutrition science, knowledge, and innovation to improve maternal and child health outcomes by increasing access to plant-based whole foods, evidence-based nutrition education, and the resources to ensure sustainable and scalable change for families and future generations.
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Media Contacts:
Hanna Steinker, Associate Manager, PR & Media
(440) 782-2001, hsteinker@vitamix.com
Kim Wysocki, Media Relations Director
(216) 450-5685, kwysocki@mtllc.com