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HOPE PREVENTS A MOTHER'S SUICIDE

She stood there with a box of poison in her hand. She hoped that her four children would not notice the taste when she fed them their last meal. In her despair, she believed she was showing mercy by...

HOPE PREVENTS A MOTHER'S SUICIDE

Lama stood there with a box of poison in her hand. She hoped that her four children would not notice the taste when she fed them their last meal. In her despair, she believed that she was showing mercy by helping her children escape this painful world.

Lama had once enjoyed a normal life in Kathmandu, Nepal. Then one day, her husband sold all of their property and disappeared. His income was all they had, and now it was gone.

On many nights, she put the children to bed crying over the pain in their growling stomachs.

Without skills or training, she had no way to feed her children. She had lost all hope. One of her neighbors saw her with the poison and discovered her intentions. This neighbor encouraged her to abandon her plan.

For several weeks, our local partners visited Lama and her children. They brought plenty of Food Paks and continued to encourage them.

Today, Lama is building a new life. She washes clothes for income and has even been able to save for educational supplies. She is planning for her children’s future.

This tender story clearly illustrates the desperation of many people who are suffering in this world. It's a reminder that a little food and someone looking out for you can dramatically change a situation.

A WAY TO SERVE

As Pastor Niran* walked down the street in Chiang Mai, Thailand, he stopped at the entrance to an alley and looked at a long row of makeshift shelters, built precariously on stilts over sewage ditches. Pastor Niran knew about 40 impoverished families, recent immigrants from a remote region of the country, were struggling to survive in this alley. But how could he develop relationships with them, given the cultural barriers between them? Not long afterwards, Pastor Niran and his church became part of Children’s Hunger Fund’s Mercy Network in Thailand. He realized that he might use Food Paks as a way to meet the needs of these families and open the door for serving them in other ways as well.

On Pastor Niran’s first visit to the alley, he met Prasett and his family. They welcomed him into their simple one-room shelter. Blue light streamed through the tarps and sheets hung against the walls. Pastor Niran sat with the family and recognized the signs of their poverty, but he was intrigued by a single, white bag hanging from a string attached to a board in the ceiling. He then noticed that the bag held the family’s food. As he talked more with the family, he learned about their lives and the difficulties they faced daily.

Then night fell and the surrounding city lights turned on. Their conversation changed as mosquitos began biting. Then the rats appeared. More and more rats scurried under the shelter in the sewage ditches, and some even came into the shelter. Now Pastor Niran understood why the family had to hang their food from a string. Before leaving that evening, Pastor Niran gave Prasett a Food Pak and arranged to return the next week.

Since that first visit, Pastor Niran has continued to visit Prasett and his family. He has also met other families through Prasett. He is giving food to more and more families in this impoverished, neglected corner of his city.

Pastor Niran is so thankful for the resources from Children’s Hunger Fund. He said, “Before the Food Paks, the families in the slum communities were hard to reach. But now with the Food Paks, many families know about us giving out food and are willing for us to help their families with the food.”

*not his actual name

WHY WE GIVE

“USANA has been good to us for our health and our finances for the last 20 years. The Foundation is a way to give back in ways that we ourselves cannot do. We can’t reach all over the world ourselves, but through the Foundation, we can do that.”

-Deanna Waters, Diamond Director

In a world where we are faced with so many “asks” and needs every day, why give to the USANA True Health Foundation?

Well, first, giving has been proven to contribute just as much to the well-being of the giver as that of the receiver. Studies demonstrate that charitable contributions create a response in the brain that elicits a surge of dopamine and endorphins that are experienced as “hedonic” and rewarding. Charitable giving can feel pleasurable in the deepest parts of your physiology.

Second, giving and getting your downline involved with the Foundation helps your USANA business by increasing retention. In the words of Deanna Waters, ”As we give, we receive. You know you’re making a difference around the world with whatever you can afford, whether it’s a dollar, ten or more, and that adds purpose to your business.”

“In the event of a natural disaster, the Foundation is ready to go and needs to be able to send aid immediately. They already have peoplesituated around the world through strategic partnerships, so they don’t have to try and figure out how they’re going to do it. It’s all ready to go, but they just need donations so that they have resources in hand to act.” Dave and Deanna Waters have been with USANA for over 20 years, and in that time, have gone on service trips to Uganda and Peru. They have developed an understanding for the true value of the work that the USANA True Health Foundation is involved in, and have seen the results of their involvement reflected in their business, which has been very successful.