Hain Celestial Personal Care Brands and CARE Celebrate the Launch of the Qach'Umilal Girls' Education and Leadership Project with Limited Edition Products

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., March 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ Alba Botanica, Avalon Organics and JSN brands, along with CAREa leading humanitarian organization fighting global povertyare honored to announce the Qach'Umilal Girls' Education and Leadership Project. The program benefits 150 indigenous girls and adolescents from families in western Guatemala by supporting their primary school education. This is a milestone in the brands' Empower Her through Education campaign with CARE that is dedicated to eliminating barriers to education for girls in developing countries.

Qach'Umilal translates as "guiding star," a name representative of the program's mission, to help build vital self-esteem needed to foster education and personal growth for girls. From an early age, girls in Guatemala are expected to devote much of their days to domestic or agricultural chores, leaving little or no time for formal education.

When the CARE team first partnered with schools in this area, many female students lacked the confidence to express themselves. The Qach'Umilal Girls' Education and Leadership Project has made significant progress in empowering girls to be more confident by emphasizing music, art and relationship-building. While the core of the program is the importance of educating the girls, it also equips teachers with the training to address issues from nutrition and food security to livelihoods and self-esteem. Teachers and facilitators meet with the girls and their families, which helps lead to long-lasting change for women and girls within the community.

To raise awareness the Alba Botanica, Avalon Organics and JSN brands, in collaboration with CARE, are introducing limited edition bath and body products featuring actual drawings from the Qach'Umilal girls. Through the partnership, the Alba Botanica, Avalon Organics and JSN brands have donated $25,000 directly to the local schools. In addition, the brands in partnership with CARE are hosting a matching fundraising program to double the impact. People will be able to donate directly to the program at www.care.org/girls or they will be able to donate through an innovative new approach, #donate, created by GoodWorld. Through #donate Alba Botanica, Avalon Organics and JSN and CARE social media posts will allow followers to give instantly to the girls of Qach'Umilal without leaving social media.

These donations are going directly to support the 150 girls and teachers in the Qach'Umilal program. "Girls who stay in school are generally healthier, earn more money as adults and start families later," said Michelle Nunn, CARE's president and CEO. "Most importantly, they are more likely to make sure their sons and daughters also go to school, helping to break the cycle of poverty. We're confident that the Qach'Umilal Girls' Education and Leadership Project Education is an investment that will pay off now and for generations to come."

Together, Alba Botanica, Avalon Organics and JSN and CARE are inspiring confidence, creating leaders and keeping girls in school. "The art for these products was created by girls who directly benefit from this project," said Julie Marchant-Houle, General Manager of Personal Care at The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. "We're honored to be making a difference in these girls' lives and in their communities."

The Hain Celestial Group, Inc.: The Hain Celestial Group (HAIN), headquartered in Lake Success, NY, is a leading organic and natural products company with operations in North America, Europe and India. Hain Celestial participates in many natural categories with well-known brands that include Celestial Seasonings, Earth's Best, Ella's Kitchen, Terra, Garden of Eatin', Sensible Portions, Health Valley, Arrowhead Mills, MaraNatha, SunSpire, DeBoles, Casbah, Rudi's Organic Bakery, Gluten Free Caf, Hain Pure Foods, Spectrum, Spectrum Essentials, Walnut Acres Organic, Imagine, Almond Dream, Rice Dream, Soy Dream, WestSoy, The Greek Gods, BluePrint, FreeBird, Plainville Farms, Empire, Kosher Valley, Yves Veggie Cuisine, Europe's Best, Cully & Sully, New Covent Garden Soup Co., Johnson's Juice Co., Farmhouse Fare, Hartley's, Sun-Pat, Gale's, Robertson's, Frank Cooper's, Linda McCartney, Lima, Danival, Joya, Natumi, GG UniqueFiber, Tilda, JASON, Avalon Organics, Alba Botanica, Live Clean and Queen Helene. Hain Celestial has been providing A Healthier Way of Life since 1993. For more information, visit www.hain.com.

CARE: Founded 70 years ago with the creation of the CARE Package, CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. CARE places special focus on working alongside poor girls and women because, equipped with the proper resources, they have the power to lift whole families and entire communities out of poverty.

Our seven decades of experience show that when you empower a girl or woman, she becomes a catalyst, creating ripples of positive change that lift up everyone around her. That's why girls and women are at the heart of CARE's community-based efforts to improve education, health and economic opportunity for everyone. We also work with girls and women to promote social justice, respond to emergencies and confront hunger and climate change. Last year CARE worked in 95 countries and reached more than 65 million people around the world. To learn more, visit www.care.org.

2016 The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

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SOURCE The Hain Celestial Group, Inc.

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