World Hunger Day: Nearly One in Five Canadian Children are Food Insecure, New Campaign Launches to Spark Conversations at Home and at School
Mealshare + SkipTheDishes kick off 'Food For Thought' partnership
May 3 until World Hunger Day (May 28th)
TORONTO, May 3, 2021 /CNW/ - Have you ever gone one or two meals without food? Did you know that there are a lot of children in Canada that experience missing a meal regularly? The next time Canadian families sit down together for a meal, Mealshare, an award-winning charity and SkipTheDishes, Canada's largest food delivery network, hope hunger will be part of the conversation. With World Hunger Day around the corner on May 28th, the two organizations are proud to launch Food For Thought, a new campaign which aims to raise awareness of food insecurity in Canada.
Food For Thought teaches kids about food insecurity through a fun and child-friendly resource package that's easily accessible online. The resource package includes activities such as colouring, drawing, story writing, and comic design that can be completed at home or in the classroom. It's meant to spark age-appropriate conversations, and includes helpful information and talking points for parents and teachers to use.
"Hunger is not just an issue in far away places. It is happening right here in Canada and can make anyone experiencing it feel very vulnerable, especially children. We at Mealshare understand how challenging this conversation with children can be which is why we have partnered with SkipTheDishes to introduce Food For Thought and create engaging activities to help drive dialogue and make a tangible difference." says Derek Juno, Executive Vice President, Mealshare.
Once activities are completed, children are encouraged to submit their work to impact@mealshare.ca or by mail. For each submission received, SkipTheDishes will donate five meals to children in need through Mealshare. In addition, SkipTheDishes is kicking off the campaign with a $25,000 donation to Mealshare, which will provide 25,000 meals to youth in need.
"We recognize that this past year has been challenging for Canadians, especially those with children," says Kevin Edwards, CEO SkipTheDishes. "It is important to us, with our Canadian roots, to ensure that our communities have access to safe, healthy food. Our hope is that through this partnership with Mealshare, we will be able to educate and engage Canadians on the issue of youth food insecurity across Canada."
As part of the campaign, resource packages have already begun to be distributed to schools across Canada. Parents can visit mealshare.ca/foodforthought/ for additional information and to download the package to complete at home.
About Mealshare
Mealshare was launched in July 2013 and operates across Canada. Mealshare offers a simple and innovative "Buy One, Give One" charity program for restaurants. Whenever guests purchase a Mealshare menu item at a participating restaurant, a simple healthy meal is donated to a youth struggling with hunger through Mealshare's network of charity partners. Currently, Mealshare is partnered with over 1,200 restaurants in 450+ Canadian communities. To date, Mealshare has provided over 4.2 million meals to youth in need.
About SkipTheDishes
SkipTheDishes is part of Just EatTakeaway.com, a leading global online food delivery marketplace. SkipTheDishes connects millions of customers with over 30,000 Restaurant Partners in Canada. Since the start of the pandemic, SkipTheDishes has worked alongside their partners to help them navigate the effects of COVID-19. To date, Skip has provided over $43 million to its restaurant partners in commission rebates and order-driving initiatives, while remaining the most affordable way for customers to get food delivered across the country. Food For Thought is another way in which SkipTheDishes continues to support Canadians through COVID-19 and beyond.
SOURCE SkipTheDishes
Media Contacts: SkipTheDishes, media@skipthedishes.ca; Mealshare: Breanne Sich at Breanne@mealshare.ca, Derek Juno at Derek@mealshare.ca
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