| Atlanta, GA -- Former heavyweight boxing champion and goodwill ambassador Muhammad Ali joins the fight against hunger by working with CARE, VitaPro and United Parcel Service to provide food for thousands of refugees in Liberia.
Through this humanitarian project, with metric tons of high-protein vegetable grain will nourish Liberian refugees displaced by an on-going civil war. "The mission proves, once again that Muhammad Ali is one of the great goodwill ambassadors of the world", says Dr. Walter Young, Honorary Consul general of the Republic of Liberia. "Those of us involved in this project feel extremely fortunate to have received such an unselfish gesture."
Muhammad Ali and VitaPro, which makes a lines of nutritionally balanced foods, provided the grain, which has been donated to the refugees. On July 29th, UPS shipped the food for CARE, the world's largest international relief organization, to various refugee camps in Sierra Leone where CARE feeds Liberian and Sierra Leone refugees displaced by civil conflict. "Like Bosnia and Burundi, the situation in Liberia is one more example of innocent people, -- women, children , the elderly --- being caught in the crossfire of political agendas. As humanitarians we must not ignore the plight of fellow human beings, no matter how distant their lives may seem to us," Clarice Taylor, CARE's Emergency Information Officer.
Seven years of civil war in Liberia has slain more than 200,000 men, women and children and left over 800,000 people homeless. "The situation in Liberia cries out for immediate humanitarian aid," says VitaPro CEO Yank Barry. "There is an urgent need for donations of food and medical supplies and I would hope that other corporations respond generously."
For 50 years CARE has helped the developing world's poor through disaster relief, technical assistance, food distribution, education, health care, agriculture, family planning, and small business support. This relief effort for Liberian refugees has expanded a humanitarian partnership between CARE and UPS and cultivated a relationship with Ali and VitaPro. "Muhammad Ali is more than an American sports hero. He is a symbol of courage," says CARE President Peter Bell. "Ali's contribution to CARE will encourage thousands of people overseas to hope for a better tomorrow."
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