Dear Bill,  

To celebrate International Day of Charity, we wanted to share with you a story of hope, only made possible by your incredible support.

Despite being 12-years-old, Saorazy from Madagascar was only able to start school last year due to poverty. Without enough food, he and his family would look to find little jobs, working for someone else in order to find something to eat, which ultimately kept him away from the classroom.

Marie-Louise is 55 years old and works as a farmer, striving to produce enough food to feed her seven children and three grandchildren. Crop production is very volatile in this rural region of Madagascar, which is vulnerable to both drought and flooding, plunging families and communities into deeper food insecurity.

However, since the introduction of Mary’s Meals’ feeding programme at Vidia Primary School, the burden on Marie-Louise to feed her family has eased, and her children are motivated to go to classes knowing they will be served a nutritious daily meal.

Saorazy says: “Every day, I wake up and wash my face and my feet, help my mother with household chores like searching for firewood and fetching water, and then go to school. We don’t eat breakfast, the food at school is our first meal of the day.

“What I like the most at school is learning new things and eating with my friends. If we are hungry during class, we won’t be able to focus and school will just be a waste of time. After every school meal, I feel very full and have enough energy to face up to the rest of the day.”

Marie-Louise is hopeful the education her children receive will provide them with a better future.

She says: “Saorazy really likes going to school. He is always the first to arrive every day and sometimes gets there before his teacher. His teacher says he is very calm, but very smart too.

“I hope that my children will finish their studies and have a good job so they will live a different life to ours. When there is food, every child can go to school, there is education, there is money, there is everything.”

You can help us reach more children like Saorazy with nutritious meals every school day by donating today.

From one story of determination to another, in June, Edinburgh teen Cameron Hutchison cycled the formidable West Highland Way in 25 hours to raise money for hungry children.

Kind-hearted Cameron, 13, and his dad, Colin, 55, took on the challenge on mountain bikes for Mary’s Meals on June 20. They cycled the 96-mile route from Milngavie, near Glasgow, to the foot of Ben Nevis in Fort William – with 4,312m of ascent along the way – non-stop.

Cameron says: “I really enjoy riding my bike and I love that Mary’s Meals supports the world’s poorest children. Doing something for charity always makes me feel better but also reminds me of how fortunate I am.

“Hikers normally take between four and seven days to complete the trail, or three to four days to complete it by bike!”

Cameron’s selfless adventure really resonated with people across the UK, and he has raised more than £5,100 for Mary’s Meals, which is enough to feed a school meal to 51,000 school children!

If you’re inspired by Cameron’s generosity to fundraise for hungry children this International Day of Charity, get started now by visiting our fundraising webpage.

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