Edesia receives $50K gift on ‘Drew Barrymore Show’; funds will help purchase new delivery truck

NAVYN SALEM, right, founder and CEO of North Kingstown-based food manufacturer Edesia Inc., reacts to receiving a $25,000 donation on 'The Drew Barrymore Show' that aired March 23 from Perdue Farms. Barrymore then matched the donation, giving Edesia $50,000. / COURTESY YOUTUBE.COM
NAVYN SALEM, right, founder and CEO of North Kingstown-based food manufacturer Edesia Inc., reacts to receiving a $25,000 donation on 'The Drew Barrymore Show' that aired March 23 from Perdue Farms. Barrymore then matched the donation, giving Edesia $50,000. / COURTESY YOUTUBE.COM

NORTH KINGSTOWN – An appearance on the NBC’s “Today” show subsequently led to a pleasant financial surprise for Edesia Inc. on another daytime talk show.

Navyn Salem, founder and CEO of the local manufacturer that produces ready-to-use therapeutic and supplemental food for malnourished children, was a guest on an episode of “The Drew Barrymore Show” that aired March 23 on WNAC-TV FOX 64 to share her story on how she created Edesia and her efforts to feed children around the world.

Then Salem got presented with a couple large checks – literally. Chicken manufacturer Perdue Farms provided Salem with a $25,000 check to help with Edesia’s operations. Barrymore, in response, matched Perdue’s gift, giving the local food manufacturer $50,000 in total.

Amanda Wallack, Edesia’s director of development, told Providence Business News Friday that Edesia was profiled on the “Today” show back in November 2021 about the company’s efforts to feed millions of children who suffer from acute malnutrition. The profile re-aired on Jan. 1 as part of the “Today” show’s New Year’s Day special, which subsequently caught the eye of Barrymore’s show producers, Wallack said.

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“[The producers] reached out to us shortly thereafter,” Wallack said, who said the gift Edesia got on the Drew Barrymore Show was “definitely a surprise.”

Wallack also said the gift the company received in front of a live audience followed a $100,000 donation that Edesia received earlier this year from Perdue and that any support the company receives is “extremely valuable” to its mission.

“We pride ourselves upon being so impact driven. Fifty dollars can literally transform a life. Any amount is integral to making our mission continue to grow,” Wallack said.

The total funds, Wallack said, will be used purchase a new delivery truck in order to get ahead of all the current supply chain challenges that companies, Edesia included, are facing. Wallack said the company started to travel and pick up some raw materials, which have increased in price, instead of waiting for them to be delivered to the factory and in case there’s either a lack of truck drivers or trucks. Plus, missing deadline to feed malnourished children is not an option for Edesia, she said.

“Having a truck is a game changer in how we can now transport our foods to the malnourished children who depend on us,” Wallack said.

Moving forward, Caroline Ogonowski, Edesia’s chief of staff, said the company is continuing to send products to where its humanitarian partners – among them are United Nations Children’s Fund and the U.S. Agency for International Development – say there are chronic protracted humanitarian emergencies, such as Yemen, Ethiopia and Afghanistan.

“We’re continuing to focus on where our products are most needed,” Ogonowski said.

James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.

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