Mary’s Meals 2024 – the year in review
Key moments and milestones that defined our year.
It’s been an incredible year for the Mary’s Meals family! Together, we’ve celebrated milestones, raised crucial funds, and made a real difference in the lives of children and families experiencing hunger and poverty by serving nutritious, reliable daily meals to more than 2.4 million children every school day. Here are some of the standout moments and milestones from the past year.
All eyes on Tigray
At the start of this year, as the reports from our trusted partner in Ethiopia continued to worsen, we knew we must respond to the devastating humanitarian crisis unfolding across the Tigray region (where we have been working since 2017).
Our founder Magnus and other key staff were able to travel to Tigray in February and meet with our partner for the first time in several years. There, the scale of suffering they witnessed confirmed an urgent need for action and prompted our Crisis in Ethiopia campaign, which sought to amplify the voices of people in Tigray and raise essential funds to expand our school feeding programme as quickly as possible.
Across our fundraising countries, Mary’s Meals staff and volunteers worked tirelessly to spread the word about the acute need among Tigrayan children and so many of you generously responded. This outpouring of support allowed us to rapidly expand our school feeding programme, increasing the number of children who receive our vital school meals in Tigray to more than 110,000.
Mary’s Meals and Clarins join forces
Beauty and skincare pioneer Clarins joined the Mary’s Meals family this year, pledging 3 million school meals annually to support our work.
Our joint initiative is active in-store across the Ireland, the UK, Europe, North and South America, the Middle East, and Asia. Clarins customers will receive an exclusive complimentary beauty purse or tote bag with the tagline "Cultivate kindness". For every purse or bag taken home (minimum spend applies), Clarins will fund 10 of our school meals for children experiencing hunger and poverty.
Fundraising milestones galore
Several of our national fundraising affiliates celebrated milestones this year, including Mary’s Meals Croatia and Mary’s Meals USA marking 15 years of fundraising and support for this mission, while Mary’s Meals Slovakia celebrated its five-year anniversary. Thank you for all that you do!
Several thousand miles away, we have welcomed our first staff member to Mary’s Meals Australia. Lachlan heard about Mary’s Meals while spending a year in Dalmally, Scotland, and is now enthusiastically spreading the word about our work from his base in Sydney. Welcome, Lachie!
Mary’s Meals reaches Mozambique
In May, we announced the expansion of our school feeding programme to Mozambique. Now, more than 5,000 children living in the Mabalane District are receiving Mary’s Meals through our partnership with Mozambique School Lunch Initiative (MSLI).
We chose Mozambique – and the Mabalane District area in particular – because of its high need and low school feeding coverage. We also already have great experience and strong relationships in southern Africa, through our well-established work in Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Grains of Hope
Over the past 20 years, Mary’s Meals has created impactful films like Child 31, Generation Hope and Love Reaches Everywhere.
This year, we added Grains of Hope to our portfolio, a short film depicting the struggles of Turkana’s pastoralist communities in northwest Kenya, and how our school feeding programme is offering vital food security and stability to families in the region. You can watch Grains of Hope here.
Fundraisers drive donations across continents
Each year, our supporters, volunteers, and fundraisers amaze us with their creativity and dedication, and 2024 has been no exception!
Our 2024 Step by Step Walk in August exceeded all expectations. A record number of walkers took on the annual nine-day challenge – walking more than 200km to the Marian shrine in Knock, County Mayo – and raised an incredible €225,000, with an additional £22,000 from walkers in Northern Ireland. The efforts of these wonderful walkers will provide daily meals to 11,375 children for an entire school year.
In Mallorca, Spain, 150 guests enjoyed a gospel music night organised by Mary’s Meals volunteers and local groups. The event – which was broadcast on local radio station Radio Soledad – raised around €1,700 and helped to raise the profile of Mary’s Meals on the island.
In Canada, the Night of Hope event in September shone a light on the hunger crisis gripping Tigray and featured a screening of a special Mary’s Meals film. Attendees raised an extraordinary $24,000 CAD which was doubled by a generous match funder. The total amount raised ($48,000 CAD) will guarantee school meals for more than 1,500 children for an entire school year.
And, of course, all the individuals who pushed themselves to the limit to raise funds and awareness for our work. There are too many to mention, so we’ll just highlight a few: Kathrin Becker from Germany who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in September to raise funds for our work; 90-year-old Juraj Keglevic from Croatia who took part in the 10th annual Running for Child 31 race; and retiree Dale Heider from America who marked his 75th birthday with a 26-mile hike around America’s Grand Canyon National Park with his friend, Dave Lensing – together raising $8,400.
A decade of school feeding in Zambia
Mary’s Meals began serving school meals in Zambia’s Eastern Province in 2014 to around 18,000 children in 25 schools. Ten years on and the programme is reaching more than 450,000 children in over 900 places of education.
To celebrate this milestone, Mary’s Meals Zambia hosted an event in Chipata with representatives from the Zambian government, civil society, private sector, and some of the schools where our meals are served. A local filmmaker produced Feeding Zambia’s Future, a short film highlighting the impact of our programme on children and communities. You can watch Feeding Zambia’s Future here.
Ending the year on a high
As 2024 draws to a close, Mary’s Meals is urging supporters to "Put Hope on the Menu". While many families will spend more than €25 on buying food for their Christmas dinner, a donation of €22 to Mary’s Meals can provide a child with school meals at their place of education for an entire school year.
To all those who have already played a part in our vital work this year, thank you. We must never forget the difference we can make when we all do whatever small things we can and continue to work together, with a spirit of hope. We are hopeful for so many things at Mary’s Meals, but most of all, we are hopeful for the futures of the children we serve, that they can grow up educated and healthy, fulfil their potential, and be equipped to support their families and communities in the ongoing fight against poverty and hunger.
Claire Benjamin is the Director of National Affiliate Growth at Mary's Meals International. She leads a team focused on growing our global affiliate charity network, helping us reach the next child waiting for Mary’s Meals.
It costs just €22 to provide a child with school meals for an entire school year. There are many ways you can help support our work and help us reach the next hungry child waiting for Mary’s Meals. There may even be a Mary's Meals office or volunteer group in your area. Learn more about how you can get involved and make a difference.
