A Filipino-American entrepreneur is using her beauty-products business to help provide meals to schoolchildren in the Philippines.
Sara Meredith started the business, Kaya Essentials, two years ago. Inspired by a school-lunch program she had worked with previously in the Philippines, she set up a scheme whereby for every purchase of one of her company’s products, a meal is donated to a student in a Philippine public school.
So far Meredith’s business has helped provide more than 1,780 meals to Filipino schoolchildren, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.
Meredith was an intern for Gawad Kalinga, an organization in the Philippines that tries to put an end to poverty through multiple initiatives. She took part in a program called Kusina ng Kalinga, “Kitchen of Care” in Tagalog, which provides well-balanced lunches for public-school students aged five to 11.
“To me, what I really love about that program is that it’s more than just food aid because it’s a school meal and also it supports education,” she said.
Kaya Essentials provides beauty products made from organic materials found in the Philippines. She said it had been her dream to have her own business.
Remembering her experience with Kusina ng Kalinga, Meredith decided to use her business to help provide meals to school kids in the Philippines.