Our impact

Assessing our impact

Our vision is that every child receives one daily meal in their place of education and that all those who have more than they need, share with those who lack even the most basic things. It is our mission to enable people to offer their money, goods, skills, time, or prayer, and through this involvement, provide the most effective help to those suffering the effects of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest communities. We believe in good stewardship of resources entrusted to us.

In 2014, we began a five-year research study into our impact. We undertook this important initiative to comprehensively evaluate the impact of Mary’s Meals' feeding program, gathering evidence and feedback on our approach to school feeding to highlight areas of strength and opportunities for refinement.

Our experience and observations over many years of working in close partnership with communities told us, anecdotally, that this work makes a difference to schoolchildren.

With this five-year impact assessment, we designed our research to be rigorous and comprehensive to ensure our findings were robust. We partnered with INTRAC, a respected organization that supported the process and verified our research and findings.

Read our Impact Report

Gathering the evidence

In Malawi and Zambia, there were a total of 15,258 surveys, 407 focus groups and 87 interviews of children, teachers, householders and volunteers conducted over the span of the five-year assessment, with data collected annually. In 2017, we added a third country – Liberia – to supplement our findings and expand our understanding in a very different country context.

Our impact in numbers

Mary’s Meals’ school feeding program significantly impacts child hunger, energy and wellbeing as far fewer children leave school early because of hunger.

This results in an increase in school enrollment and improved attendance while contributing to positive educational outcomes, such as the ability to concentrate and participate in lessons.

Read our Impact Report

 


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