Presentation to Mary’s Meals, Lenten charity 2017

Posted on 23. May, 2017 in Carousel

After Mass on Sunday, 21st May 2017, the proceeds of the Pontifical Irish College Lenten charity appeal, €4,280, were presented to Mary’s Meals, the charity chosen by the seminarians for Lent this year.
The photo shows Mons. Ciarán O’Carroll, Rector, making the presentation to Mr Francesco Stefanini of Mary’s Meals, along with the seminary charity officers and Fr Paul Finnerty, Vice Rector and Fr Hugh Clifford, Director of Formation.

Thank you to all who contributed to the collection during Lent.

The Pontifical Irish College, Rome seminarians chose Mary’s Meals as this year’s College Lenten charity. Mary’s Meals provides meals to some of the world’s poorest children every day they attend school. They also work on the solution to getting them fed in the long term.

The founder of Mary’s Meals, Mr Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow met a lady called Emma while he was involved in Scottish International Relief (SIR), providing famine relief in Malawi. She was dying of AIDS and lay on the floor of her hut surrounded by her six young children. Emma said all that was left for her was to pray that someone might care for them after her death. Magnus asked her eldest, Edward, what he hoped for in life. He replied simply: “I want to have enough food to eat and to go to school one day.” Edward’s words helped inspire the founding of Mary’s Meals, which aims to provide chronically hungry children with one meal every school day.

Mary’s Meals founder Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow serving meals to school children in Haiti.

With school feeding having become the sole focus of its work, SIR officially changed its registered charity name to Mary’s Meals. The number of children receiving Mary’s Meals continues to grow and it is moving closer to feeding one million children every school day. Its simple but effective approach has gathered momentum and today we serve children across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and South America. Mary’s Meals also supports a home for young people with HIV who were abandoned as children in Romania.

To see the Mary’s Meals website, click here.