PFAN Ships to Dominican Republic

April 17, 2003

Last year a Catholic Sister from Green Bay, WI had occasion to test a small sample of PowerFlour on local children in the western part of D.R. near Camendador. Sister Roselyn Nichols was impressed with the results she immediately saw with native poor children in her parish.

She wrote PFAN requesting a larger portion of malt flour and we responded with a standard pail containing 40 pounds (U.S.), which was enough material to supplement over 25,000 meals. In six months she was out of PF and requested 6 additional pails for distribution in adjacent parishes. Sister Roselyn wrote Tom Hartzell, "That malnutrition is a very serious problem in her Diocese, especially along the Haitian border, and that the children receiving the PF supplements were showing significant improvement in health and appetite."

She therefore reached the decision to spread the treatments to other needy areas. In early April, PFAN released six additional parcels, each weighing 40 pounds (U.S.) net, to Orlando, FL where they were transferred to Santo Domingo and the San Juan Bautista Dioceses. Several USA shippers have been recruited to help cut the shipment costs, which have risen steeply for air deliveries shipped abroad.

This quantity should be enough PF to supplement nearly 170,000 porridge meals. The D.R. becomes the 52nd country where PF has had a presence during its ten years of existence.