“Global malnutrition affects us all...”
The stats surrounding child malnutrition are heartbreaking: Every 10 seconds a child dies of severe malnutrition. 45% of all deaths in children under five are caused by malnutrition.*
To fight this crisis, there are people and organizations the world over who are dedicating their lives to enacting solutions. Mana Nutrition is one such organization. Their CFO, Chris Whitfield, generously took some time to tell the nonprofit’s story and explain how OnSIP's phone system has supported its growth, enabling them to extend their reach and help more undernourished children.
Fighting Malnutrition from the Peanut Fields of Georgia
“Mana Nutrition is a producer of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) and similar products used in the treatment of severe and moderately acute malnutrition,” explains Chris. “Since our founding in 2009 we have produced RUTF to treat and save more than 8 million kids around the globe.”
RUTF is a specialized, nutrient-rich food designed to treat severe malnutrition in children. It's made from milk, multivitamins, and peanut butter, comes in a shelf-stable pouch that requires no preparation, and can be distributed directly to mothers for home use without requiring a visit to a feeding center. Mana purchases the peanuts for its RUTF product from peanut farmers in Georgia. The product is then made in its state-of-the-art production and warehouse facility in Fitzgerald, Georgia.
The nonprofit sells their product to major humanitarian organizations such as UNICEF and Save the Children. All profits are reinvested into their RUTF product, production facilities, staff, and operations.
In addition to facilities in Fitzgerald and Savannah, Georgia, “Mana has its corporate office in Matthews, North Carolina. We do also have several employees who work remotely and/or on-the-go,” Chris notes.
Using Hosted VoIP to Expand Mana’s Reach and Influence
Mana has been using OnSIP hosted VoIP since before 2012, which is the year when Chris joined the company. He tells us that the previous CIO of the company led the evaluation and selection of OnSIP for their business phone system.
“I have been grateful for its selection both from a user and from an administrator perspective,” he says. “Functionally, it meets all of our needs as a user and administrator. More important, though, is that the OnSIP team is always available to help me quickly solve problems and get answers to any questions we have.”
Using OnSIP, the Mana team can contact each other in multiple ways. Extension-to-extension dialing works regardless of where a staff member is physically located. And several of their remote employees also use the OnSIP mobile app to answer calls, listen to work voicemail messages, and keep in touch with in-office colleagues.
“Perhaps the greatest benefit of OnSIP is how it helps us be efficient in this hybrid VoIP/mobile world we’re in,” he observes. “We made the decision early on to forward all calls to people’s mobile devices where, if not answered, the voicemail is left. This has been especially great for our many ‘on-the-go' employees.”
The other OnSIP features that Chris notes as important and personally uses are: call forwarding to his mobile phone when he is away from his office desk phone, and the use of the mobile app while working outside of the office for extended periods of time.
He declares that “As an administrator, OnSIP has allowed our expansion to other locations without complex implementation of another PBX system.” Logging into OnSIP’s web-based admin portal, he can add new users, update call settings, configure new call features, purchase phone numbers, and review reports and invoices. All moves, adds, and changes occur in real-time.
He has also interacted with OnSIP’s Support Team many times over the years when he’s had troubleshooting or configuration questions.
“No one, and I mean no one, comes close to the excellent quality of support your team provides,” says Chris. “I always get a human right away and that person can almost always answer my question or solve my problem on that first call—in minutes. Practically every other service provider I work with cares little or nothing about the amount of time it takes ME in solving problems. So please never change your support model—it is the best and worth every penny we pay for it and MORE."
Help Mana’s Cause
If you’d like to donate to Mana Nutrition and increase your awareness of severe acute malnutrition, visit their Donate Now page. 100% of donations get invested back into RUTF production and help provide this life-saving product to organizations that couldn’t otherwise afford it. As Mana puts it, “No profit, just food for kids.”
* Stats are found on Mana Nutrition’s homepage.