WFP Launches ShareTheMeal Campaign To Raise 150,000 Meals For Children In Haiti To Mark Canada’s 150th Anniversary

Every day, countless children in Haiti turn up for school on an empty stomach, which makes it hard to focus on lessons. A daily school meal can mean not only better nutrition and health, but help the next generation reach its full potential. The #ASK1TOASK1 ShareTheMeal campaign will allow WFP to scale up their Home Grown School Meals programme in Haiti.

 

It costs just $4.55, less than a bottle of maple syrup, to provide one week of nutritious meals to children in school through the ShareTheMeal app! The app allows users to share nutritious food with hungry children around the world by simply tapping on their smartphone and donating $0.65 or more.  

 

“WFP’s ShareTheMeal app and the #ASK1TOASK1 campaign provides Canadians with an easy way to share meals with hungry children in Haiti,” said Robert Opp, a Canadian who is Director of Innovation and Change Management at WFP.  

“Daily school meals allow children to focus on their studies rather than their stomachs, feeding their dreams for the future.”

 

Haiti has been repeatedly affected by a series of devastating natural disasters over the last two decades.  2016 was the third consecutive year of El Nino-related drought, and the country was hit by the category 4 Hurricane Matthew, which left more than 800,000 people in need of urgent food assistance.

In Haiti, WFP is working together with the Government to produce a sustainable, nationally-owned, school feeding programme linked to local agricultural production. WFP procures local commodities such as rice, fresh fruit and vegetables from the local smallholder farmers, giving them a predictable market for their products and the children enjoy a healthy diversified school meal.

Join WFP Ambassador Against Hunger, George Stroumboulopoulos and other celebrities like World Champion Wrestler Andre Berto, Singer Dawn Richard and Canadian national Olympic Weightlifter Isabel Lahela who have all committed to help fundraise for the children in Haiti. To get involved, simply download the free app, join team #Canuck and once you have fed a child for a week share with your social media network, using the hashtag #ASK1TOASK1.

 

WFP’s award-winning app has engaged a new generation in supporting the fight against hunger. More than 850,000 people have downloaded the app and shared over 14 million meals with thousands of vulnerable children in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Malawi, Cameroon, South Sudan and Yemen.  

The ShareTheMeal community recently contributed to WFP’s famine response in South Sudan, where users shared 1 million meals with those people in dire need of food.

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WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. Each year, WFP assists some 80 million people in around 80 countries.

 

ShareTheMeal allows smartphone users to share their meals with hungry people via a free iOS and Android app. ShareTheMeal is an initiative of the World Food Programme Innovation Accelerator.

 

Download the app here: http://ow.ly/IucL30cAl5h

For more information, please visit: https://sharethemeal.org/canuck.html

Follow us on Twitter @wfp_Canada and @ShareTheMealorg

 

For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):

Julie Marshall, WFP/Toronto, Tel. 905 818 2664