Dalmally food aid charity, Mary’s Meals, now feeds 413,900 children

Argyll charity, Mary’s Meals, is now feeding over 413,900 children in 15 of the world’s poorest countries.

To set this in context, the population of Aberdeen is 179,950, so this charity is feeding the equivalent of almost two and a third cities the size of Aberdeen.

The charity, which began when its founders took jeep-loads of aid to Bosnia in the 1990s, started its school feeding programme in Malawi just eight years ago, and has expanded to provide school dinners for 413,900 children.

‘We believe that by providing a hungry child with a meal a day, in school, we can help them to stay strong and healthy and encourage them to go to school, improving their chances for the future’, said Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, founder and chief executive.

‘Reaching 400,000 children is a significant achievement, and we are grateful to all the volunteers and supporters who have enabled us to help them – but there are 1 billion children living in poverty in the world today. Our work is not done until every one of those children has enough to eat and a chance to go to school’.

Mary’s Meals has been able to reach its new total as a result of expansion in Liberia, where it has started providing meals for 2,500 children who live on a rubber plantation, a hot-spot for fighting during the civil war. Until recently, many people were isolated there, without access to food or education.

On Thursday, 22nd April, staff and volunteers will hold joint celebrations at the charity’s warehouse on the Balmore Industrial Estate in north Glasgow, and at its Liberian project in Tubmanburg.

The Glasgow party will focus on the loading of a shipping container with school backpacks, bikes and other materials, destined for schools in Liberia.

Guests will have the opportunity to taste the type of food that children receive at Mary’s Meals projects in Liberia.

Technology permitting, a Skype link-up will enable local primary school-children to see and exchange questions with a group of children in Liberia, who will eventually receive the backpacks filled with equipment such as pencils and notebooks.