A message from our executive director
Every serving of Mary's Meals now costs 10p and the cost of feeding a child for a school year has risen from £15.90 to £19.15
Samuel started this new year in Dzaleka refugee camp, a sprawling settlement in Malawi. He found safety – and hope – here more than five years ago, after his family was forced to flee violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Every day, Samuel, 13, and his friends eat Mary’s Meals at the camp’s school. These children have experienced unimaginable fear and upheaval at a very young age but, fuelled by our life-changing meals, they are on track to become the adults who can lift their communities out of poverty.
Samuel says: “I would like to be a pilot. A pilot is someone who learns much and I want to learn much, like how to build an aeroplane and how to fly an aeroplane in the skies.
Like Samuel, I am thinking about the future. It gives me such joy to tell you that, despite a difficult 2022, together we are reaching more desperately hungry children than ever before. Today 2,429,182 little ones will be served Mary’s Meals at school!
And yet, I know that 2023 will be another uncertain year for our mission, with the escalating cost of living causing much pain for both the children who eat Mary’s Meals and those here in the UK who make our work possible.
The prices for many commodities – including grain, fuel and fertiliser – have risen. As a result, the cost of feeding children with Mary’s Meals has increased by 20%. This means every serving of Mary’s Meals now costs 10p – and the cost to feed a child for a school year has increased from £15.90 to £19.15. Despite the many challenges we face, I am more thankful than ever for the Mary’s Meals family. This is because all those involved in our mission are people of hope – from those who give so generously, to the volunteers who cook and serve our nutritious food and, of course, the children who eat Mary’s Meals.
It is still both incredible value and a huge achievement that, for less than £20, we can feed a child every school day for a year. This is only possible because of your kindness and our strong commitment to steward every single penny you entrust to us.
If you can give any amount today, please know that this will be received with deep gratitude – particularly because our income is not growing at the same rate as the cost of feeding children.
Thank you on behalf of every child we serve who, like Samuel, can learn on a full stomach and dream of soaring high.