John Paul Mitchell Systems Co-founder and Chairman of the Board John Paul DeJoria and his wife Eloise first encountered malnourished children on a visit to South Africa and immediately wanted to know how they could help.
They joined up with Food4Africa, a nonprofit organization that manufactures, packages and distributes highly nutritional food directly to needy children in the rural areas of South Africa.
As an active patron of Food4Africa, John Paul is not content to only contribute financially – he also is lending his voice, and his face, to the charity’s Indiegogo fundraising campaign that runs through March 30, 2014. Watch the video below to hear his reasons for supporting Food4Africa, and follow him as meets the children in their villages, schools, and homes. “I went and saw these children who are orphans, whose parents have died, or are almost dead, of HIV” says John Paul. There are approximately 2.2 million orphans in South Africa.
Founded in 2003, Food4Africa now feeds 17,000 children per day. John Paul wants to help them reach their goal of doubling those numbers in the next few years. Food4Africa delivers maize and soya based cereal, enriched with 19 minerals and vitamins that if eaten daily, will cover a child’s nutritional needs. Without proper nutrition from birth to twelve years old, a child’s brain will not be able to fully develop and continued learning will be difficult. As a person who himself struggled with poverty early in life, John Paul feels obligated to give back now that he is successful, and try to help needy children get the basic tools of survival.
The Indiegogo fundraising campaign offers a series of rewards for different donation levels. The rewards include Paul Mitchell products, African handicrafts, and a private lunch with John Paul.
- Learn more about Food4Africa’s work at http://food4africa.org
- Watch John Paul’s video and donate to Food4Africa at http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/food4africa
