Rimini: Mary’s Meals, the international charity dedicated to ending child hunger through school meal programmes, has reached a landmark achievement serving meals to more than three million children every single day. The announcement, officially titled More than 3 Million, will be made on September 8, the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to whom the organisation is devoted.
Founder and CEO Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow shared the milestone in advance during the Rimini Meeting, offering it as a sign of hope in a fractured world. “Every day, more than three million children receive a meal at school thanks to our support,” he said in an interview with Vatican Media. For him, this is not merely a statistic but a testimony to what he calls the “power of simple acts” to transform lives and communities.
Reflecting on the journey since the charity’s humble beginnings in 2002, MacFarlane-Barrow recalled how Mary’s Meals started by feeding just a hundred children. “We could never have imagined that the work would grow in such an extraordinary way,” he said. “The message I want to share today is one of hope: even in a world full of problems, good things can grow.” His words will also form part of a panel discussion at the Rimini Meeting, Justice is not enough, we need charity, where he will join Lord John Bird and Marco Piuri of Fondazione Banco Alimentare ETS.
Over the past two decades, Mary’s Meals has become a lifeline in some of the world’s most troubled regions. In Africa, the charity’s work now supports more than 1.3 million children in Malawi and over 600,000 in Zambia, despite the pressures of climate change and economic crisis. In Ethiopia’s conflict-ravaged Tigray, the number of children reached has surged from 30,000 to more than 245,000 in less than two years. Meanwhile, in Haiti where gang violence and political instability dominate daily life almost 200,000 children now receive a daily meal at school.
This year alone, the charity has been able to extend its reach to an additional 800,000 children compared with 2024, making it one of the most significant expansions in its history. Yet the scale of global need remains overwhelming: over 71 million primary-school-aged children are still out of school worldwide, a number greater than the combined total of pupils in the UK, Europe, the US, and Canada. Studies consistently show that a reliable school meal is one of the strongest incentives for children to attend class.
At the heart of the initiative is a striking simplicity. By ensuring one nutritious meal in a place of learning, Mary’s Meals offers children not only the chance to study but also the possibility of a different future. “We feel called to be present in those parts of the world where people have no voice,” MacFarlane-Barrow affirmed. “We want to walk alongside these communities for years especially when the world’s attention moves elsewhere. A meal in school can restore hope, and perhaps most inspiring of all is witnessing the resilience and creativity of the young.”
Choosing September 8 as the date for the announcement carries deep symbolic meaning. “We want to offer this gift to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, on her birthday,” MacFarlane-Barrow explained. “Mary’s Meals belongs to her, and we want to celebrate this milestone as a gift to her. It will be a joyful day.”