Dear Friends,
I hope you are well, safe and coping as well as any of us can in these challenging times.
Last week, Dr. Pat Wolff sent you an announcement that she is planning to step back from her CEO role at Meds & Food for Kids, and remain involved in a non-operational role.
I am writing now to ask for your help in our search for Pat’s successor. As Board President, I am chairing the Search Committee for the recruitment of a new CEO for MFK. I am joined by committee members Eva Frazer, Jeff Hochman, John Kuenzi, Suzanne Langlois and Neil Seitz, and along with Pat’s knowledge and insights, we have begun the search and selection process. We have engaged Kittleman & Associates in Chicago, a firm that has very successfully recruited leaders exclusively for charitable organizations across the country since 1963.
The Search Committee created a CEO position description, which can be found on the MFK website. This document is being widely distributed in the U.S. and abroad to qualified candidates. I’d like to ask you to read this, particularly the last page which describes the skills, career experience and characteristics of the next CEO.
You can help. Please pass along this document to people in your circle of colleagues and friends who might have a personal interest in this position or who might be willing to direct us to potential qualified candidates. Any interested persons can simply contact Michelle Saddler at msaddler@kittlemansearch.com.
MFK staff in Haiti and St. Louis have been preparing for this transition for years. The Board and I have been working in concert with Dr. Pat and the staff on this succession plan and we have every confidence that this process will go smoothly and that MFK will be even better equipped in the future to provide lifesaving nutrition and agricultural development in Haiti.
Your assistance is most appreciated.
In partnership with you,
Dear Friends,
During this uncertain time, I hope this message finds you and your families safe and healthy as we navigate through this pandemic. Our teams in the U.S. and Haiti are working around the clock to keep our mission moving forward.
Because you are essential partners in MFK’s important mission accomplishments we would like to share with you news about the succession planning initiatives that are currently taking shape at MFK. We are setting the stage for a bright and long future for our operation in Haiti by selecting Kittleman & Associates, a national executive search firm specializing in the recruitment of CEOs for nonprofit organizations, to conduct a search for a new Chief Executive Officer.
I have been delegating and sharing responsibilities, knowledge and skills for several years in Haiti and in the U.S. to prepare for this transition. I will remain involved with the organization, but will be shifting my focus to elective but important activities that have not yet been prioritized because we lacked the bandwidth within MFK. Please be assured that I am in good health and have planned this transition for 2020. The Board and I have been working in concert on this succession plan and we have every confidence that this process will go smoothly and that MFK will be stronger for it.
Now more than ever, Haiti needs MFK’s products, skills and commitment. The last two years of political turmoil have created a 30% increase in malnutrition in the country even before COVID-19 reared its ugly head. We are very proud of our Haitian staff who continues to produce and distribute our lifesaving products while socially distancing, increasing mask use, transport in an MFK vehicle instead of public transport, and instructing people in their neighborhoods and homes about handwashing, not touching the face, etc.
Soon we will publish a job description and we hope you will send worthy candidates our way. We are confident our next CEO will add more skills, strengthen our efforts in Haiti and lead our team into a new era of progress toward sustainability.
Jeff Klopfenstein, President of our Board of Directors, is leading the search committee and will be communicating updates in the coming months.
Thank you all so much for your continued partnership and commitment to Haiti.
Mesi Anpil,
Last month, the MFK Agriculture team traveled to Port-au-Prince to join over 140 scholars, researchers, and agricultural experts for a conference hosted by the Feed the Future Appui A La Recherche Et Au Developpement Agricole (AREA) project. Launched in 2015, the AREA project helps Haiti develop and strengthen its agricultural innovation system and increase production, household incomes and food security. This was accomplished through a collaboration with the University of Florida and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
The AREA project has trained thousands of farmers, professionals from public and private institutions, and has supported 25 Haitian graduate students attending the University of Florida and Louisiana State University in fields such as agro-climatic data and plant disease.
Things in Haiti are changing rapidly, as in the rest of the world. But, we have some positive and encouraging news to share.
The Prime Minister of Haiti has asked all factories producing medical products to resume production. MFK falls into this category, as we produce lifesaving Medika Mamba. MFK plans to restart production on Monday, April 6 for one shift per day. Many precautions are planned for safe transportation, safe entry and a safe work environment at the factory inHaiti. Our team wants to be able to produce more Medika Mamba for Haitian use and global use. We are constantly monitoring the health of our employees and the safety of their environment and will do what we need to do to protect them.
We have always used masks for food safety but now we also use them for COVID-19 safety. Because of a worldwide shortage of disposable masks, Barb Lind and Rita Struckhoff, of St. Louis have stepped up to sew washable masks for our workers. Also, Women of Milot , a social enterprise which employs Haitian seamstresses to make beautiful totes and small bags for tourists at a living wage, has offered to sew and donate 100 washable masks to MFK’s workers. A BIG THANK YOU to Barb, Rita and Deborah Couri, Founder and CEO of Women of Milot.
Although the airports and land border crossings are closed, the seaports are still open for import and export. This is an essential lifeline for the Haitian people for daily food and medical supplies.
The COVID-19 cases are slowly increasing, day by day. From the U.S. experience, we know what this means and we are vigilant about best practices to decrease the possibility of employee-to-employee transmission.
MFK continues to supply lifesaving Medika Mamba to clinics in Haiti and to UNICEF for export to African countries.
Patricia B. Wolff
Founder & CEO
COVID-19, or the anticipation of COVID-19, has stressed our people and our systems in Haiti and the U.S. as it has most people. Haiti has no confirmed cases of the virus, but our staff is appropriately worried about what might happen to them or their families if there is spread of COVID-19 in Haiti from the cases in the Dominican Republic or from visitors from other countries. The team has created a well-informed and scientific protocol for employees, malnourished kids and visitors. The government of Haiti has taken steps to reduce the risk of coronavirus entering the country. In response, MFK has cancelled our upcoming trips to Haiti.
We are continuing to be in close communication with our team. All our employees have been informed to stay home from work if they or anyone in their families are feeling ill. Our factory employees have always practiced good hand washing, worn gloves, face masks and other protective gear while in the factory producing our lifesaving Medika Mamba, and will continue to do so. They have also been instructed to use increased vigorous hand washing away from the factory and practice social distancing. We are thankful for the hard work and dedication of our Haitian and U.S. employees each and every day.
Patricia B. Wolff, MD
Founder & CEO
2020 gives us all not just a new year, but a new decade – one full of hope, and possibilities. It’s a great time to reflect on where we have been, and even more exciting, where we are going. Here is a snapshot of what we have going on in the MFK nutrition department:
The Artibonite region of Haiti is known to have high incidences of childhood malnutrition. MFK currently partners with one clinic in the region, approximately a four-hour drive from the factory. We are in the process of building additional partnerships with clinics and hospitals in that area, allowing us to expand our reach and treat more children suffering from malnutrition.
This hospital, located approximately 15 minutes from the Port-Au-Prince airport has treated up to 60 children in their malnutrition clinic. I had the opportunity to visit the hospital this past December with our Haitian nurse, Magdalla, and the need was severe. We have plans to continue this much-needed partnership, and support the clinic with more visits and education, to best equip the nurses in treating malnourished children.
In healthcare, continuing education is critical. Best practices are always evolving, and one must constantly be engaged in learning. Each month, the Haitian Ministry of Public Health and Population organizes a meeting focused on childhood malnutrition in Haiti. Professionals representing different organizations and areas in Haiti gather in Port-au-Prince to discuss problems, solutions, and ideas related to childhood malnutrition. The MFK nutrition team participates and keeps current with ongoing health issues in the country, as well as, builds and maintains relationships with supporting organizations. We are also able to aid in the transfer of knowledge, as we take what we gain from these meetings to the nurses at the clinics we visit. Knowledge is meant for sharing.
We are very excited to see all that MFK and our partner clinics will achieve in 2020!
In October 2019, 53 farmers from Savane Longue and Carrefour Sifreus completed the six-month MFK Farmer Training Program and received their certificates.
This past week, MFK welcomed 60 new farmers to the current session, taking place in two small communities in the Ouanaminthe area: Bahara (Baja)and Savane Longue. Located approximately 90 minutes southeast of the MFK factory, Savane Longue is home to 10,000 people and farmers primarily grow peanuts. While MFK has conducted trainings in Savane Longue for a few years, this is the first time MFK has conducted training sessions in Baja, a small community located on the border of the Dominican Republic. Farmers from Baja primarily grow corn, cassava roots, beans, and sweet potatoes. However, over the last 10 years many farmers from this community have abandoned farming, claiming that they make enough money from non-farming activities to support their household. They prefer traveling to the Dominican Republic to do business. As the focus has shifted away from farming, agricultural production has decreased considerably. With MFK’s training, we hope that they will regain confidence in the potential to make money from their farms and get back to farming.
The farmers will be educated on good agricultural practices that will allow them to produce better quality peanuts and increase their production. The program began on January 15thand will last until mid-June.
Through this program, MFK’s goal is to increase the production and quality of peanuts in the region by promoting improved agricultural practices. Every Wednesday and Thursday, the MFK Agriculture team will travel to these two communities to conduct training that consists of a mixture of presentations, group discussions and technical in-field activities.
During group discussions, a wide variety of topics are covered, including soil preparation, soil conservation and erosion prevention, leaf disease and insect control, crop rotation and mixed gardens, aflatoxin control pre and post-harvest, financial literacy and climate change. Our in-field activities include simple experiments comparing yield and plant growth of the three local varieties, in-row planting versus scattered planting, and fungicide application. Our goal is to see the farmers not only increase production but also produce good quality peanuts, free from aflatoxin.
On January 15, we welcomed all the new participants. This season’s participants are excited and motivated to learn new things and ways to improve their production. Each participant completed a brief survey about their current agricultural practices and basic information about themselves. We will use this information to not only help these farmers, but also help the agriculture team determine understanding and areas of interest. Look for more information about this growing season soon!
“What we learn with pleasure we never forget.” This inspiring quote kept coming to the forefront of my mind during the MFK nurse’s education day on December 5th. Eighteen nurses, most traveling for hours to attend, came together for discussion, learning, and comradery. They arrived early, eager to learn. We gathered in the conference room of the MFK factory, and each nurse introduced themselves, and the clinic where she works.
Then the real work began with a surprise pop quiz! The giggles and groans that came with its announcement is a reaction that must be universal, but our Haitian nurse educators, Roudelyne and Magdalla, were quick to assure them that it wasn’t to be formally graded, nor excessively difficult. Rather, it was a tool to gauge the information the nurses were already working with and the effectiveness of the training upon completion.
