It Starts With a Meal™
TAKE ACTION TODAY TO END HUNGER TOMORROW. It starts with a meal. It leads to resilience, self-sufficiency, education, empowerment and bright futures in communities worldwide.
EDUCATION STARTS WITH A MEAL
We launched our It Starts With a Meal™ movement to share that the journey toward self-reliance and bright futures begins with a single nutritious meal. Our work often starts with a meal, and we’re celebrating Rise Against Hunger’s 25th anniversary by sharing our impact in South Africa through the Early Childhood Development Connect Program with a primary focus on ensuring children between the ages of 0 and 6 have access to quality education and nutritious meals. In the last year alone, over 1,180 ECDs were supported, 38,100+ people were served and more than 2.9 million meals were provided.
RECOVERY STARTS WITH A MEAL
In early 2022, Ukraine faced a refugee crisis due to ongoing conflict. In response to the crisis, we provided thousands of nourishing meal kits and supplies to those affected and displaced from their homes in collaboration with Rise Against Hunger Italia and other global partners. Meal kits contained pulses, grains, pasta, oil, dried fruit, canned goods, fruit juice, pre-packaged snacks, and baby food.
OPPORTUNITY STARTS WITH A MEAL
Michael, age 42, is a rice farmer living with his wife and two children in Malawi’s Karonga district. In 2020, he joined the Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience project, implemented in Malawi through a partnership with Rise Against Hunger and FOCUS. The project works to enhance the food and nutrition security of smallholder farmers in Malawi’s Karonga and Mzimba districts by improving food production, nutrition practices and incomes. With five kilograms of rice seed that he received through the project in 2022, Michael harvested 2,000 kilograms of rice and was then able to sell some of his harvests, earning the equivalent of $583. He plans to cultivate more land this year to increase his harvest even more. With dreams of being a role model in his village, he believes that his increased rice crop will enable that dream to become a reality.
Join the Impactful Celebration in South Africa
Hope thrives alongside nutrition. Through our Early Childhood Development Connect Program, thousands of centers in South Africa are improving access to quality education and nutritious meals for children ages 0-6. Your gift will help more children receive nourishment like this. Give now to change a child’s future today!
Nourishing Lives One Meal at a Time
As participants in the Early Childhood Development Connect Program, South African residents have seen outstanding results toward long-term food security: generated cost savings from donated Rise Against Hunger meals and home-grown school gardens, center infrastructure improvements and skill development opportunities. Meet program participants in the Celebration Series below.
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Real-Life Impact in South Africa
Littlest Ones: Early Childhood Nutrition and Community Empowerment in South Africa
You’ll Be So Inspired by This Story of a Community Garden that Is Providing Bountiful Produce in South Africa
This Preschool and Nursery in South Africa Provides Children With Nutritious Meals and Education
MEALPOWER
When we start conversations about the power and importance of a meal, it also reinforces the critical necessity of addressing food insecurity. Using #ItStartsWithaMeal on social media, share your favorite international recipe, the difference a single meal can make and how your friends and family can support the global hunger crisis.
TRY ALL THE #MEALPOWER RECIPES!
In honor of the It Starts With a Meal movement, check out these special dishes from food and lifestyle influencers. Download the recipe cards to try your hand at making these globally-inspired dishes!
Red Star Yeast
Take part in the #itstartswithameal global effort on social! It Starts With a Meal is supported by a $50,000 donation from campaign sponsor, Red Star Yeast.
