2 MILLION meals a day is not our final destination
Founder Magnus hopes childhood hunger can be eradicated in future
SCOTS charity Mary’s Meals is now feeding more than two million kids in schools worldwide.
The venture that started in the garden shed of founder Magnus MacFarlaneBarrow in Dalmally, Argyll, is giving food to more than twice as many children as are currently living in Scotland.
The landmark means the reach has doubled in size in six years and is still expanding fast in some of the poorest countries in the world.
Magnus said: “When we celebrate this landmark, it’s not a final destination, it’s something that points us to the next school and to the next child.
“So two million could become four million, could become more.
“I can’t think of one good reason why any child in this world would go a day without a meal at school. And in this world of plenty there should be nothing inevitable about children being hungry and being in school.
“We want to see, ultimately, governments in those countries where we serve the meals take this on when they can and do it themselves, and that we are no longer required.
“That’s the long-term vision but we know that’s not going to happen tomorrow.”
The count confirms Mary’s Meals is giving a daily nutritious meal to 2,058,099 children in 19 countries.
The achievement will be officially celebrated today in the desert region of Turkana, Kenya.
The charity has 800 paid staff and many thousands of volunteers.
Magnus said: “Since we set up Mary’s Meals we’ve never ever had to abandon a project for financial reasons, simply because, again, of the goodness of people all over the world. I would say that the most amazing part of our support is Scotland, as the people of Scotland are so unbelievably generous.”
Magnus said desperate tactics were required to combat Covid restrictions.
He said: “We recognise that you can, you can suspend school for very good public health reasons. But you can’t stop feeding kids who are relying on you for a daily meal.
“We’ve been remarkably successful because our teams have been amazing and, overwhelmingly, during this time we’ve kept the promise of feeding the children at school or at home.”
Magnus said many nations are going backwards rapidly right now. He added: “Millions of people are slipping into hunger. In Ethiopia, Haiti, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, they’re all facing the most dire predictions of food insecurity and even famine are right now.
“We are deliberately choosing the places where most children are suffering, most acutely and that is taking us into places of conflict and natural disaster. So it’s even more remarkable the meals are being delivered in difficult environments.”
The most amazing part of our support is Scotland MAGNUS MACFARLANE-BARROW