In May 2015, Calorie Cloud (now Active For Good) partnered with Johnson & Johnson to organize an activity challenge for participants of the TEDxJNJ Get Moving event. At this event, Johnson & Johnson pledged to “get moving” by becoming more active for 30 days. Participants used tracking devices as they “moved” throughout the month – which translated into calories burned, then ultimately into a monetary contribution to purchase ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) for malnourished children in Africa. The more active participants were during the activity challenge, the more calories burned, and thus, the more calories donated to children in need. In all – 24 million calories were shed during the 30 days!
In burning these 24 million calories, and ultimately donating them, Johnson & Johnson was responsible for the creation of 48,000 RUTF packets, which were sent to Juba, South Sudan and Goma, DR Congo to treat children suffering from severe malnutrition. In April 2016, our team along with some team members from Johnson & Johnson traveled to East Africa where they saw the donated calories in use and the now healthy (and dancing!) children who were saved.
Malnutrition continues to plague humankind. The majority of the world’s hungry live in developing countries, where nearly 13 percent of the population is undernourished. Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the highest prevalence of hunger. One person in four there is undernourished. For many, these statistics are nothing new – but a new way to combat hunger is on the rise.