Scaling up to serve more children

We are delighted to announce that our school feeding program is now reaching more than 2.6 million children across 16 countries! Every school day, each child receives a nutritious bowl, plate or mug of locally procured, nutritious food – prepared by volunteers from their local community – to help them learn and grow.

Our steadfast commitment to supporting children living in some of the most challenging, unstable and food-insecure contexts in the world is central to our mission at Mary’s Meals, and a key consideration when we grow is to go where the need is greatest.

In the latter half of 2024, our teams worked incredibly hard to expand our programs to reach areas of urgent need in countries where we were already serving children, and where reliable school meals were – in many cases – essential for survival, including communities in Haiti, South Sudan, and Ethiopia.

Most recently, we have been responding to Southern Africa’s escalating hunger crisis where the aftermath of a historic drought is pushing communities already vulnerable to climate change, poverty, and hunger to the brink. We’re currently reaching more than 1.5 million children across Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. And, through funds raised as part of our current Emergency in Southern Africa appeal, we hope to expand our work even further, introducing sustainable, community-led school feeding programs to even more communities and reaching many more children living in poverty with nutritious school meals.

Driving our efforts to keep our promise to the children we already serve – and extend our reach to provide school meals for those still waiting for Mary’s Meals – is an incredible network of individuals united by a shared goal. From the individuals who so generously volunteer their time to cook and serve the meals, to the supporters and fundraisers generating vital donations and awareness that help to fund our work, it is the individuals within the global movement of Mary’s Meals that are bringing us ever closer to realising our vision.

Agnes and her husband Peter volunteer as cooks for Mary’s Meals in Liberia, serving nutritious school meals to students in Grand Cape Mount County. They work as a team: Agnes focuses on preparing the meals, while Peter hauls and chops the wood used for cooking.

"The Mary's Meals school feeding program is making a significant impact. When I cook and the children eat, I know they'll stay in school and learn," Agnes says.

Peter, adds: “With the program in place, our children's future is secure because if there is no food, they can refuse to attend school.”

Grace was one of the first Mary’s Meals volunteers in Zambia. On her volunteering days, the 41-year-old mother of eight wakes up early in the morning and arrives at Betty Primary School promptly ahead of the 1,400 students. She says: "It gives me a lot of joy when I cook and serve porridge to children, seeing how they do not want to miss it knowing it contributes to their activeness in class.”

Lurdes and her four daughters live in Mozambique. The family live close to the school where she volunteers as a Mary’s Meals cook and three of her daughters are old enough to attend. On days when she cooks, she brings water from home to use in the school kitchen. She says: “I like that my daughters go to school. Knowing how to read and write are essential things in someone's life. We love the school lunch program because it has been a light for the families in our community.”

Mtonga is a School Feeding Officer for Mary’s Meals in Zambia: “My job is to build relationships with schools and communities, so they have a sense of ownership of the Mary’s Meals feeding program. In the past, it was a balance for many children between going to school and being hungry or helping parents to find food. Now the children prefer to be in school because the supply of porridge is guaranteed.”

Our work is only possible because of the passion, hard work, and dedication of volunteers all over the world and all those united by the belief that no child in this world of plenty should miss out on their education or endure a day without a meal.