Pay IT Forward

The Need:

Doctors Without Borders has documented the extent of the need.
Mannatech has stepped up with a solution to that need.

Note: Mannatech will co-labor with you to provide a month's supply of the highest quality nutritional supplementation available to one child for every qualifying auto order from it's associate base in North America. 

What does this mean in real terms?
Currently over 50,000 orphans are being provided for and that number will quickly double as this program goes beyond North America and into Mannatech worldwide in the fall.  That is just the beginning and the Give 4 REAL plan that is highlighted below, will be the mechanism to eventually care for an unlimited number of children.  A staggering goal from one company and yet it can be reached by people who simply catch the vision and pass it on to 2 others. This is an incredible win/win/win for those who choose to participate.

A Sustainable Plan - Give 4 REAL

Once a person understands the incredible need that malnutrition and undernourishment represents in the lives of at least 200 million children with one child dying every 6 seconds, that person then faces three obvious choices:

1) give from funds that you have already have

2) create sustainable giving by receiving first and giving to two others

3) do nothing

The Key Understanding to the Give 4 Real plan is that each Giver must receive first. What does this mean? Several years ago I heard Robert Kiyosaki, in a video presentation, give some interesting statistics on how people tend to use the money they have available. My paraphrase of what he said is the following:

If we gave 100 people $10,000 each today, and told them to use it as they wish, and that we would come back one year later to find out what each had done. Upon doing so, statistically, we would find the following. 

·      80 people would have $0 left.

·      16 would have about $10,300 to $10,500.

·      4 would have between $20,000 and $1,000,000.

Why? The results directly correlate with the arithmetic function given priority in the lives of the people of each group. The 80% focus on subtraction. The 16% focus on addition. Only the 4% focus on multiplication as a priority. How do the 4% multiply? They have a totally different strategy about their use of money than the other 96%.

Most people in all three groups know that the following are good and legitimate uses of the money they have available:

·      Spending,

·      Giving,

·      Investing, and

·      Saving

However, statistically, the strategy employed by 96% of the people is the following: People of the 80% and 16% groups spend first as a priority, and then plan to give, invest and save. With this strategy, how much is left to give, invest and save? Usually $0, or something very close to $0.

The 4% employ a very simple, but totally different strategy. People of the 4% group designate a certain percentage of their available income to give first as a priority. They next have a certain percentage that they have designated for investing and saving. They then only spend what’s left. They place “firewalls” around their giving and investing categories and don’t allow circumstances to change or invade their giving first. Why do they do this? I think that it is for the following two reasons:

1.     Because they are on a mission, and deeply care about the projects, people, programs, and charities they give to.

2.     Because they actually believe in the principle of sowing and reaping. These people understand and believe that money given in the present always returns into their future in multiplied form.

Having said this, you can now see why I am looking to engage people in the Give 4 Real plan who understand and are willing to commit to this principle of receiving, investing and then donating. We are asking each giver to take responsibility for maintaining in each business period his/her own automatic order and the automatic orders of the team of 2 others. The goal is that each new person will be donating themselves and that all you will do is maintain your own automatic order.

Each person needs to be willing to receive, then commit to investing in two others and then giving. Why this order?  It's like when you are on an airplane and some malfunction takes place, the oxygen masks drop down and you are told to put yours on first even before your own child.  Why? You can't help anyone if you are not breathing.  You need to become sustainable so that the child you are caring for isn't at risk to circumstances beyond your control (loss of job, accident, etc.)  and you are no longer able to help them.

This guarantees that three children will be nutritionally supported each business period. What each participant must clearly understand is that for any or each automatic order (out of the 3) that is not completed in any business period, the nutritional support for one child is not supplied that month!

You can even have your monthly auto order go to a charity of your choice or Mannarelief.  In that case an additional five children would be helped through just your order.

I believe that we as givers, must understand and convey the vision to every new Giver that we are engaging in a social movement of private citizens, who feel a sense of mission and responsibility to truly make a difference in the lives of hundreds of millions of children that are at risk from undernourishment and malnutrition around the world.

Caution: Don't get overwhelmed by the numbers.  Your commitment is from yourself and two others. The principle of multiplication will take care of the rest.

The Law of Multiplication     

The law of multiplication is the same principle that all farmers are aware of, "SOWING AND REAPING."  Exponential growth can happen in weeks, months or years.  The law of multiplication is staggering when it is applied.  Here is a simple example based on the Give 4 Real plan of just involving 2 others.

2 X 2 X 2 X 2 X 2 X 2 = 128

Doubling every month for six months = 128 orphans.  

Doubling every month for 20 months = 2,000,000 orphans.  

How many people did you personally invest in? 

2 

Is it really this simple?   

YES!!!!

 

Give 4 Real means that you take responsibility to ensure that 3 automatic orders in each business period (yours and your 2 front line Givers) happens each month. Give 4 Fake means that you just sign up without the commitment to invest first.

If you don't have the money to invest in others, cut out coffee or some other luxury that you won't miss. Children are worth the sacrifice.

So let’s Give 4 Real, and engage others who want to Give 4 Real.

OK, I’m in. I want to Give 4 Real. So, what do I do?

Do the following 5 steps:

     1. Receive your $109 in the US or $99 in Canada registration pack.

2.     Invest in 2 other people giving them a Preferred Customer Product Pack and place a minimum $100 automatic monthly order the following month.
      (this isn't required but the reality is when people don't commit to something, nothing happens.)

4.     You take responsibility for always retaining in every BP your minimum $100 automatic order and the minimum $100 automatic orders of your team of 2 other givers. (If one drops out, you are responsible to replace that order!)  In the compensation plan, when there are 6 people under you, 2 people who got 2 people (6) you will will earn a $100 commission.  (The commissions grow significantly as well.  That's all spelled out in the comp plan but this is about vision and not the money.)

5.     Help your 2 givers identify, envision, and give to 2 other givers who each do the same above 4 steps. That is sustainability.  We don't want to start what we will not finish.

This is a sustainable plan that is simple and reproducible.  A farmer plants a seed knowing there will be a huge harvest.  Allow me the privilege of planting a seed in your life.  Thank you.

You are What You Think About

The Parable of Talents

by Brian Tracy

The Parable of the Talents is the primary reason for wealth or poverty throughout history.

Reasons for Rich or Poor
Why do some people retire rich and most people retire poor? This subject has fascinated philosophers, thinkers, mystics and teachers throughout the ages. There have been many cases of hundreds or thousands, and even millions, of men and women starting with nothing and going on to become financially independent. So, naturally, people are curious to know how their successes happened and what the common rules or principles are so that they, too, can apply them and become wealthy.

Why People Become Rich
One illustration of this key principle is called the Parable of the Talents. In the Bible, it says, "To him that hath, shall more be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away."

Accumulation Leads to More Accumulation
What does that mean? In the modern world, we say the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The fact is, though, people who accumulate money tend to accumulate more and more. People who don't accumulate money seem to lose even that little bit of money they have. Why should this happen? The great success principle, the single idea that explains human destiny is simple. It says that you become what you think about most of the time.

Control Your Thoughts
And whatever you dwell upon grows in your reality. You create your entire world based on the things you choose to think about and how you choose to think about them.

It just so happens that wealthy, successful people fill their minds with thoughts, words, pictures and images of wealth, affluence, success, productivity and solutions to problems in the marketplace most of the time. These thoughts trigger the reticular activating cortex, the part of the brain that makes you more alert and sensitive to things that you have decided are important to you.

Activate Your Reticular Cortex
For example, if you decide to invest in a mutual fund, you will start to see news and information about mutual funds everywhere. Mentions in newspapers and magazines will jump out at you. These notices have always been there, but now you have sensitized your brain to pick them up and draw them to your attention with far greater frequency and vividness. This is the function and power of your reticular cortex.

Avoid Poverty Thinking
On the other hand, what do poor people think about most of the time? Unfortunately, poor people fill their minds with thoughts of scarcity, lack, poverty and being unable to afford things. They are always thinking and talking about how little money they have, how much things cost and how they wish things could be better financially. What they think about most of the time is how little money they have.

Think Like Wealthy People Think
Wealthy people from an early age think about how much they have, how much they want and all the different things they can do to acquire and earn the money and things they desire.

Find Out How Rich People Think
Here's a rule for you. If you want to become successful, find out what failures do and don't do it. If you want to be wealthy, find out what poor people think about, and avoid thinking in those ways. Instead, find out how wealthy people think. Find out what they read. Find out how they spend their time. Study their lives, read their stories and autobiographies, and listen to their words when they are interviewed and on tape. The more you find out what financially successful people think and talk about most of the time, and then do the same things, the more rapidly you will enjoy the same rewards.

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to put this parable of the talents into action:

First, make a decision today that from now on you will think and talk only about the financial success that you desire. At the same time, you will refuse to talk about or dwell upon your financial problems.

Second, instead of saying, "I can't afford it," instead, ask the question, "How can I afford it?" When you think of something that you want or need but don't have the money for at the time, the only question you ask is, "How?" How can you get it? What can you do to achieve it? What are your options? How can you get from where you are to where you want to go? This type of attitude will change your life.

A Vision for Health and Helping Others

Years ago, people died of malnutrition simply because they didn’t know that fruits and vegetables contained the vital vitamins and minerals that our bodies need for good health. And even though we now understand that we need them, not everyone gets the full range of vitamins and minerals that are the building blocks for our minds and our bodies. Even those who can afford and have available the 7-9 servings of fruits and vegetables that we need each day, rarely eat those quantities to ensure good health.

But this isn’t about supplying vital nutrients to those who have them available. There are literally millions of people (including widows, orphans, homeless, innercity kids, etc.) that do not have access or can afford to buy that much nutrition in the form of fresh fruits and vegetables. Is there a simple solution to this lack of equality in our world?

YES! It comes in the same way that we would supply a spaceship, concentrated supplements with all of the goodness of shopping carts filled with fruits and vegetables, packed into a bottle that fits in the palm of our hands.

Remarkably, this approach to nutrition is more cost effective than growing gardens in urban jungles nor do we have to deal with the daunting issues of freshness, quality, delivery and storage.

Caring for others and ensuring that everyone is given equal opportunity for healthy minds and bodies is a mandate that we can all take seriously. By simply learning to work together we can see this lived out on a global basis. I have no idea why the powers that be are not doing this today, but I also know that it doesn’t have to be left in the hands of anyone but us. We can make a difference!!!

HOW?

We simply need to do 2 things to make this a reality. Use the most advanced forms of food sourced supplementation available today and combine them with a sustainable means of delivering them to those in need.

WHY SUSTAINABLE?

Good intentions does not make something sustainable. How do we tell a mother with 4 young children that what we started in bringing them health is no longer available because someone has lost their job and can no longer supply the needed supplements? To bring hope and education and then not follow through seems a rather shortsighted gesture.

We need a sustainable plan. Sustainable means creating the necessary funds to ensure ongoing support without the threat of being interfered with by job losses and other priorities replacing the hope that is being provided.

This kind of guarantee of ongoing support needs to be funded through a business model and not a donation model. And this, for many, will be a significant paradigm shift. The time to learn and implement this model will take much less time than it takes to prepare, let alone, plant, weed and harvest a single garden. It simply takes a willingness to try a new approach.

There are 2 requirements that are necessary for this plan to work.

#1 – The desire to see people helped through providing good nutrition.

#2 – The understanding that this is something that needs to be sustainable.

Sustainability

There a 2 kinds of people that should be involved in the process of sustainability.

95% of these people should simply be good customers and 5% should be business people.

Good Customers: These are people that believe good nutrition is important and understand that it is as important to finish something they have started as it is to start to do a good thing. The simplest way for this to happen is by making enough money from giving this help, to ensure they never have to stop.

Business People: These are people who take this matter of caring to a more developed level. They do this as their main source of income. They look after the good customers, the distribution of the supplements, have decent computer skills and the drive to ensure the ongoing fulfillment of this vision.

Which kind of person are you?

Do you see the vision of caring for others by providing nutrition in the form of supplements?

For those that say yes to this vision, I would suggest that you start as a customer. Begin providing help today by registering as an associate in my business of Mannatech and letting me take care of the details of getting those vital supplements to those in need.

Down the road you may want to learn and do more within the business model but the secret of success in this vision is by simply starting.

My goal will be to help you become sustainable in the giving of this care. Simply help me by sharing this simple means of caring for others once and awhile with some friends that you think would want to do the same thing. I will look after the details and you can rest assured that through this simple form of teamwork that we will bring nutritional equality to those who have no one but us to help.

To our own health and the health of others.

David
Write me at mannagrant@gmail.com to get started today.

I can immediately work with anyone that can legally work in any of these countries, United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Denmark, Germany, South Africa, Austria, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.

To understand the business model and the impact that we can have go on to my next blog titled, A New Paradigm for Helping Orphans.

A New Paradigm for Helping Orphans

In the book, The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell, says this, “The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behaviour crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.

That’s what I’ve been dreaming about for the past year and a half. I’m in a network marketing company that sells some really good nutritional supplements. I’ve been in the company for 2 years but didn’t understand network marketing at all when I got in.

Then one day it hit me. This thing I’m in could make a significant difference in the lives of children who simply do not get basic nutrition.

Iron deficiency, the most common form of malnutrition, affects 180 million children under age four.
684,000 child deaths worldwide could be prevented by increasing access to vitamin A and Zinc.

My company makes a great multi-vitamin/mineral that could help these children.

Based on a simple business model of exponential growth, 10 million children could receive these multivitamin/minerals in 20 weeks.

How is this done? There are only 3 steps.

STEP 1 Spend $100 a month to purchase 5 bottles of these vitamins and send them wherever they desire. (or ask me where to send them)

STEP 2 Get 2 more people to do the same thing this week.

STEP 3 Help them get their 2 people in the following week.

To keep things going each person simply needs to get 2 more people involved. Doubling the number of new people from the previous week.

This model is now reproducible through others and is like a perpetual motion machine.

You continue to spend $100 a month but don’t need to recruit anymore people. (unless you want to) You have started the ball rolling and from then are in a business leveraging other people’s time for your financial benefit. You also have the satisfaction of knowing that more children are being helped than you could have personally helped in a lifetime.

If this happened steadily for 20 weeks, 10 million children would receive their vitamins.

This model is sustainable because it is based on business rather than donations. Why is it sustainable? As soon as a person gets 2 people who get 2 people. 6 in total. The commission for the first person is $100. From then on the commissions grow exponentially.

Everyone wins, even the person just starting because they have helped 5 kids immediately.

As it sits right now, the business plan is legit, the need is real, the products work, the answer is simple. I’m simply anticipating the tipping point when people catch this idea on mass.

Is there a lot of money to be made through this model? Yes. And the more you make, the more children are helped.

Maybe you’ll take some of the profits and drill water wells or some other humanitarian endeavour. That’s completely up to you.

I'm looking forward to you joining me and being part of this dynamic tipping point.

How Do You Make Money?

Do you remember being asked this question when you were a kid, "How will you make money when you grow up?" Of course not. We were generally asked, "What will you be when you grow up?" My son wanted to be a fire engine. The options were virtually unlimited. We could dream of being anything but then we grew up and realized that dreams were for kids. We needed to get practical and settle on something that would get us through life.

We learned the lesson that money really does make the world go round. And while we certainly didn't want to end up serving the next dollar, no one doubts that it is better to have it that not have it.

Somehow, I missed the lesson that there were only 4 categories for making money. I certainly never considered looking at the pros and cons of each model. And yet HOW we make money will determine many things in our lives: how we spend our time, where we live, who we hang out with, who we will help, the number of children we will have and how much education we will need. These are just a few examples that show that determining how we make money will affect our lives.

So how do people make money? Let's look at 3 different categories: employed, self-employed and business. (I won't look at investments since this model tends to come after doing ok in the other categories.) Then, let's explore what I consider to be a unique opportunity that utilizes the strengths of the above 3 categories.

1

The first and most common category is simply working for someone else. What most people don't realize is that this model requires that you give up your time and abilities in order to make someone else money. Employees are often thankful to their employers for giving them their job, while in fact it is the owner who should thank them for making him/her a profit. This model usually requires a person to be tied to a specific location and income stream. Or in the case of management positions like banking, retail or the military, to be to told where to go and how long they will live in a particular location.

The cost of education is often a significant factor when one is determining how much they will eventually make when they go to work for someone else. There is often the expectation from employers that new employees will have already invested a significant amount of time and money in their education prior to being hired. When going for a job interview there are 2 questions that will inevitably be asked, "What is your educational background and how much experience do you have?" Employers love finding people that they don't have to invest in. Never mind that it often takes 3-7 years to be able to pay off educational debt and this is only if they get a well paying job.

Equality is a big idea for workers in this model and that's why unions are often found within it. Employers tend to not like this idea at all. They would rather employees be subject to whatever they want, whenever they want it. Whether it be pouring coffee, managing a large group of people, being a minister in a church or even being a professor with a PhD at a university, everyone is simply an employee and are not free to come and go as they please.

They are also very vulnerable to changes in the economy or in the specific business that they are employed in. When I got into being a toolmaker 30 years ago, it was considered one of the best paying and secure of all the skilled trades. Today, I know a number of highly skilled tool and die makers that are now driving trucks due to advancements in technology and globalization.

The one thing that this model does not produce is the potential for financial equality between the workers and the owners or the educated and uneducated.

2

Category number 2 is the self-employed business model. Historically this was the most common model but as we moved away from an agrarian society, more people ended up working for someone else. This model makes you the master of your own destiny and you don't have to bow down to a boss. Not quite true, they often end up having to appease many bosses, their customers. This model includes jobs as diverse as a mechanic to a salesman to a farmer to a doctor and each one has this one thing in common: they are are always vulnerable to a catastrophic event such as sickness or an accident. And if a loved one needs more of their personal time, the self-employed person doesn't always have the freedom to respond to the need. Even a farmer is at the mercy of the weather while other occupations can be drastically effected by economic downturns in their particular area of expertise.

The challenge in this model is that the individual has to be more than just good at his particular skill but has to understand all aspects of making a business work. There is often a significant investment in hardware or education. The constant need to keep up with developing technologies, market trends and ongoing educational upgrades can be overwhelming at times. A mechanic friend says it this way, "I'm not sure if I own this business or if this business owns me."

3

The third category is owning a business. Essentially, all businesses are based on the simple principle of using other people's time and skill to profit the owner. This model has the potential of producing significant profits for the owner.

However, the vast majority of people never even consider this possibility. The complexities of starting a business and seeing it through to success is a mountain few people are willing to climb and even fewer climb it successfully. 4 out 5 new businesses fail within less than 5 years. There are so many facets that have to be mastered: Research and Development, understanding market share and demographics, having a great product, hiring and firing, training and development of workers, warehousing, customer service, deliveries, accounting, sales, etc. The biggest hurdle of course is the initial start up capital and ongoing capital investment.

This is why many have opted to own franchises where much of the expertise necessary has been supplied through the franchise. It's why people are willing to invest $500,000 in a Tim Horton's. The rewards can be significant but the financial risk, emotional investment and the huge amount of personal time are still significant to anyone who dares to see the view from the top of this particular mountain.

The idea of teamwork is very popular in this model because the owner knows more can be accomplished by getting his employees working together. Naturally this improves his/her profit margin. Owners have all the power and even though this isn't always the best for the business or the employees, it is the reality. He/she took the monetary risk, so therefore deserves all the benefits. The fact that their employees took a lot of risk when committing themselves to the company is never even considered when it comes to critical decision making. This model never considers the idea of equality for all.

4

But there is a fourth category that is often misunderstood because it literally takes the best of each of the above categories without being cluttered with their inherent weaknesses. I never cease to be amazed by this, the most revolutionary of all business models, network marketing.

In its simplest form it requires little (no) financial risk like that of owning a traditional business but has the potential for anyone and everyone to enjoy financial freedom. It thrives by benefiting from the work of others without making a slave of anyone. It is a little like being self-employed in that one gets to use their skills and talents for their own advancement but without taking the risk of relying solely on oneself. It also gets to optimize the tax advantages only granted to business owners, something that hourly/salary workers never have the chance of doing. If personal circumstances demand more time, this business can continue to grow without direct involvement. Equality for all is the heartbeat of this business.

The one thing it doesn't bypass is that you must be willing to do some work and have some perseverance to get the job done. But unlike other jobs it doesn't take 30 years or a significant investment to achieve financial stability and freedom. The biggest challenge is that no one can ever force you to do the work since personal autonomy is one of the pillars in this model.

All businesses require the selling of something, whether it be a product or a service. And yet one of the most misunderstood aspects of this business is that it does not require everyone to be great at sales. Virtually anyone who is willing to help 2 or 3 others pass this model on to just 2 or 3 people, can enjoy the dream of becoming financially free.

Is it really this simple?

Yes!!

Why doesn't everyone do it? Why aren't more people successful in it?

The immediate concern for most people is that this business is involved in sales. Usually there is an initial response of a tightening of facial muscles, a knot in your stomach, breaking out in a cold sweat or in my case a combination of all 3. But when you consider that we all sell stuff everyday this response should be a little surprising.

All of us, spend most of our days selling something. Some have sold their skills and services to the highest bidder. That might mean being willing to stand at a drive thru pouring coffee while taking the next customer's order. Or another person may spend an exorbitant amount of money and time to become a forensic scientist and then have to sell their skills within a very limited, niche market. You may enjoy encouraging your friends to go to a great movie that you just saw. How many of us have been involved in advertising by wearing designer clothes with the logo prominently displayed? Do you know any Mac owners who seem to always be selling the idea of owning a Mac or the "need" we all have for an Iphone? You'd think they had stocks in the company. No matter what we do, there is rarely a day that goes by that we have not sold something, either products, services or ideas. What you didn't learn in kindergarten was that it is ok to get paid once in awhile for selling something.

Generally, we have been taught since kindergarten that our role in life will be to work for someone else. Since about 95% of what we learned programmed us to do just that, is it little wonder that this is how 95% of us make money? We were taught over and over that financial security is the dream and that happens only after many years of keeping our nose to the grindstone. We simply can't imagine that doing well financially can be relatively simple, quick, and easily shared with others. We definitely were never taught to measure personal financial success by how financially free we helped others to be.

That is far different than the single owner model where success is measured by how well one person manages to control a group of people. The employee model measures success with terms like reliability, teamwork, hard work and doing what you're told. Some may even get satisfaction that they made Sam Walton and his kids billionaires but I can't say that I really understand that kind of satisfaction. Becoming financially free while helping others become financially free is never a consideration within the self-employed model since others are not even part of the equation.

The Dream of Financial Freedom

Financial freedom is not the language, let alone a goal for most people. They have only thought in terms of letting their circumstances determine the limits of their dreams. Most people have never contemplated this simple question, "What would you do with your life, if money was not a consideration?"

Safety and security is the language that is used by owners to control their many workers. And while loyalty is often talked about, as soon as things get tough for a company, the first ones to pay the price are the loyal employees.

I believe there are many people who believe we should be working together and looking out for the good of each other. They just didn't see it through the eyes of making others financially better off. The days of a community working together to build one person's barn is a thing of the past. Well, almost a thing of the past. Working with others to build a successful network marketing business is the modern day equivalent of this kind of teamwork. And just as the farmer remained fully independent after the barn was built, he always knows that working with and serving others is a very rewarding experience.

Does Network Marketing Work for the Average Person?

I know of a couple that had almost gone bankrupt at the age of 63 from a business they had owned for 30 years. Within a year in my company they were making a wonderful living and after 5 years were millionaires.

In just three weeks, a 21 year old man, with no experience in this business made $4,000, won a trip to Costa Rica and a laptop computer by understanding and applying this simple foundational principle for success: just get 2 more people involved and help them get their 2. Not only did he do well in his first month but his 2 best friends also made $3,200 and will be joining him in Costa Rica.

Freedom Really is an Attainable Goal

This cooperative business model allows you to go where you want, decide how much you want to make and choose who you work with. No longer does anyone have to be tied to a job that doesn't allow them the freedom to live where they want. And no one has to be at risk because of decisions that are out of their control. Nor do they have to fear economic uncertainty since this model works well in good times and even better in difficult times.

The secret to success in this business is very simple: have great, proprietary products that people use regularly and a great compensation plan that can be easily explained to those who have little or no training in either sales or business.

Does this mean their isn't any work involved? Of course not. The business is not complicated but it isn't magic either. No successful business owner has ever accomplished anything without a good plan, good training and the willingness to follow through with their vision.

Most people shrink their dreams to match their income, few expand their incomes to match their dreams. Since we know that many hands make the work easier, why not choose to join a team of like minded business owners that have chosen to work cooperatively together for the purpose of making each other successful?

A Simple Solution to Scurvy

This is a remarkable story in that the answer is so well accepted today and yet was so disregarded throughout history.

Scurvy is an ancient disease; its principal cause is now known to be an ascorbic acid (vitamin C) deficiency, but when scurvy devastated civilizations such as Egypt, Greece, and Rome, no one suspected that the deadly "plague" was caused by a diet of inadequate nutrients.

Scurvy influenced the course of history, especially the destiny of nations who depended upon military might. Because rations during military campaigns and long ocean voyages seldom contained adequate amounts of vitamin C, armies and navies were devastated by as much as 50 percent. Between 1556 and 1857, for example, more than 100 scurvy epidemics spread through Europe.

The first clue to the treatment of the disease occurred during Jacques Cartier's arrival in Newfoundland in 1536. The French explorer was advised by the native Indians to give his men, who were dying from an epidemic, a potion made from spruce tree needles. The foliage, rich in vitamin C, cured most members of Cartier's crew.

Although numerous indications began to appear that linked scurvy with diet, this knowledge had to be rediscovered many times until the nineteenth century.

In 1742, the British naval commander James Lind begged the British Navy to institute a program for making citrus foods available on all voyages. In a book he wrote after an especially long journey with many fatalities, he described miracle cures encountered with the use of lemon juice. Lind was practically ignored for his advice. But 62 years later, the British Navy did adopt the procedure when Captain Cook succeeded in avoiding scurvy altogether by giving his sailors lime juice on three successive voyages (between 1768 and 1779). No one knew why citrus juice had so miraculous an effect.

The history of scurvy research leading to the discovery of vitamin C actually began in 1907, when two German scientists realized that the guinea pig was also susceptible to the disease.

In 1497, Vasco de Gama, seeking to find a passage to the East Indies through the Cape of Good Hope, lost 100 of his 160-man crew to scurvy. A few years later, in 1519, Magellan started out to circumnavigate the globe. His fleet consisted of five ships. When he returned three years later, only one ship, with 18 sailors of the original crew, returned to Spain.

Historical evidence in the naval logs of the eighteenth-century voyages recounts the horrors of scurvy. By then, the disease was no mystery for many ship masters. Others, under the influence of the bureaucracy of their time, gave no attention to the value of stocking fresh vegetables, fruit, or sauerkraut for long journeys. Others stopped at various islands for restocking of supplies. Captain Cook, of the British Navy (1772-1775), was especially diligent in providing supplies of known foods that could prevent scurvy. He was eventually presented with the Copley Medal of the Royal Society for his success in bringing back as many sailors as departed.

Armies didn't fare any better. During the late sixteenth-century and into the the eighteenth-century, epidemics of scurvy broke out among Prussian armies, Russians at war between the Russians and the Turks, the English troops at Quebec in 1959, and French soldiers attempting to cross the Alps in 1795.

How has vitamin C changed history? There are many challenging probabilities. The lemons-oranges-sauerkraut regimen instituted by James Lind before he retired in 1748 may have proved to be the "secret weapon" against Napoleon. It might have assisted Lord Nelson to break the power of Napoleon because the English Navy was able to blockade the coast of France without the necessity of constant refueling for fresh food to maintain the health of its crews.

The history of scurvy is not unlike the tragedy of our time in which many in the medical profession and administrators in public institutions ridicule the idea that nutritious food and vitamin-mineral supplements can save million of lives.

More Than Enough

MORE THAN ENOUGH

(helping those that cannot help themselves)

I had a nice chat with a friend yesterday. We ended up talking about a vision I have of bringing nutritional supplements to ALL of the neglected children of the world.

Did you know that iron deficiency, the most common form of malnutrition, affects 180 million children under age four and that 684,000 child deaths worldwide could be prevented by increasing access to vitamin A and Zinc?

Through a little bottle of children’s multivitamins/minerals, we can supply the missing nutritional building blocks for children. As it stands right now, the need is outpacing the supply and children needlessly die. The plan I showed him not only supplied the vitamins but because it comes through a business model, everyone involved can help at literally no financial cost to themselves.

The goal is sustainability and that's why a business model is the best way to ensure that no child misses out.

THE NEED NO LONGER OVERWHELMS THOSE WHO CATCH THIS VISION.

This plan is simple and doable. Money is not a factor. The VISION to join with a few others is all that it will take to bring some of the missing nutrients to children who cannot help themselves.

Together we CAN make a difference!