International school-feeding charity launches innovative fundraiser

As the school year draws to a close, many children will want to give a present to their teacher to thank them for their hard work.

Now, presentformyteacher.com is where parents and guardians can buy an online gift for their children’s teachers in exchange for a donation towards the work of Mary’s Meals.

Mary’s Meals is now feeding over 2.2 million children every school day in a place of education in some of the world’s poorest communities. While just €18.30 feeds a child for an entire school year, those daily meals enable children to come to the classroom and gain the education that could be their ladder out of poverty in the long term.

From humble beginnings of feeding just 200 children in a school in Malawi in 2002, the organisation is now celebrating its 20th year whilst feeding 2,279,941 across 20 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Keeping their costs low, Mary’s Meals commits to spending at least 93% of all donations on their charitable activities. Local communities own and run the feeding programmes, enlisting an army of volunteers to cook and serve the food to the children. Volunteers also weigh heavily in the operations of the charity here in Ireland, with supporters all over the country fundraising for the school feeding programme and raising awareness of their mission.

Present for my Teacher will help to support this mission and provide nutritious daily meals to chronically hungry children who may otherwise have to work, beg or scavenge for their food. It is really two gifts in one: children can safely send a beautiful e-card via email to recognise and thank their teacher while simultaneously giving a gift of hope to hungry children across the globe.

For more information information on the initiative, go to www.presentformyteacher.com.