Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) announced today that the Firm will launch “Step Up to the Plate,” a global initiative to reduce childhood malnutrition and save lives worldwide. This two-pronged approach is designed to address malnutrition by providing food to children most in need in developed nations, while also addressing the medical effects of children already experiencing malnutrition in the developing world.
“Our Firm has a 75-year history of dedication to improving children’s health. During these challenging economic times, it is more important than ever that we support those most in need – the more than 1 billion people around the world living in hunger,” said Tom Nides, Chief Administrative Officer at Morgan Stanley.
In conjunction with the Morgan Stanley Foundations, the Firm will support charities including Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and Feeding America in an effort to alleviate childhood malnutrition as part of Morgan Stanley’s Global Alliance for Children’s Health.
"Our medical teams are working in many of the world's malnutrition hotspots, treating young children afflicted with a preventable disease that silently claims the lives of up to five million kids a year," said Dr. Matthew Spitzer, president of the board of directors of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). "With this very generous support from the Morgan Stanley Foundation, more children will receive the basic – yet vital – nutritional support they desperately need."
Morgan Stanley employees will also have the opportunity to participate directly with charities supported through this initiative including volunteer and educational programs to further raise awareness about this important issue. “Step Up to the Plate” follows the Firm’s highly successful Million Meal Summer where the company provided more than 1 million meals over the summer to children in the U.S. who would typically receive subsidized meals through school programs.
“We are grateful to Morgan Stanley for helping us provide food to the millions of Americans who live at risk of hunger in the U.S.,” said Vicki Escarra, president and C.E.O. of Feeding America. “They have shown true leadership by embracing the ‘Step Up to the Plate’ initiative.”