Needs From: Connect Fredericton

**Please note, Mary's Meals provides a daily meal at school to hundreds of thousands of children in some of the world's poorest communities. As such, we are not equipped to match volunteers to people in need for this initiative, but rather are relying on kind-hearted Canadians to seek out opportunities to spread acts of kindness in their communities, while gently bringing attention to our life-saving work of feeding children around the world who are in need of food and education.**

To view a short film about he work of Mary's Meals, please see https://youtu.be/vye5Wb5ssz8

Looking for ways to keep in touch with your community – and continue supporting children that depend on Mary’s Meals – in these unprecedented times?

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us are adjusting to life at home. The current situation is scary and uncertain but, together, we can get through it. As increasing numbers of people find themselves self-isolating and unable to go outside, we would like to pool our resources and do something practical to support them – but we need your help.

With Little Acts of Kindness, we hope to give people here in Canada an opportunity to stay connected and support one another, while also helping to support the children who depend on Mary's Meals through raising awareness of our work.

If you are healthy, have extra time on your hands and would like to give something back to others in your community, could you consider helping others in need by carrying out little acts of kindness like these:

-Walk someone’s dog
-Rake someone's lawn
-Pick up shopping and other essentials
-Call someone for a chat
-Leave a kind note for someone who could use an encouraging word

When you request a free Little Acts of Kindness kit, you'll receive an information letter and some Mary's Meals brochures and donation cards to leave behind when performing your acts of kindness. These materials will help to spread kindness across Canada and our global Mary's Meals family.

visit www.marysmeals.ca/kindness to sign up!

Summary: Around 64 million of the world’s hungriest children do not attend school. In order to survive, they have to work or beg for food. For millions more who do make it into the classroom, hunger affects their ability to learn.

Mary’s Meals is currently providing a daily school meal to over 2 million children in 20 developing countries around the world. We are working on changing the lives and future of chronically hungry children and their communities. But we can’t do it without your help.

Mary’s Meals is a low-cost, grassroots organization. Our global average cost to feed a child (a nutritious daily meal at school) for one year is just $22.60. We need volunteers to help promote our organization in your community, as volunteer Ambassadors for Mary’s Meals. Join our local Fredericton team and make a difference today! Please email volunteer@marysmeals.ca for more info about your local volunteer team.

Key Duties and Responsibilities: Mary’s Meals Ambassadors raise awareness in their communities of the 64 million+ children who are out of school due to chronic hunger and the ways that Canadians can easily help. By becoming an Ambassador for Mary’s Meals, you become a voice for chronically hungry children, their families and communities. As an Ambassador you offer the opportunity for others to join our global family and increase the number of children we can reach with a daily meal at school.  Your help is needed to raise awareness of our mission in churches, schools, businesses, community groups, etc.

Ambassadors’ responsibilities include providing information to personal contacts and other community members about the work of Mary’s Meals and its importance to children and communities. You will be responsible to develop and implement activities to increase awareness of our mission and programs. Volunteers may choose which activities they would like to participate in such as:

Distributing brochures and educational information Putting up posters or setting up information displays at local businesses, organizations, churches, schools, etc. Giving presentations to local groups, schools, churches, etc. Setting up information booths at local events or conferences to educate the public about child hunger, barriers to education and our Simple Solution to World Hunger Organizing awareness-raising events such as screening one of our half-hour documentaries https://www.marysmeals.ca/en/get-involved/book-and-films/ Participating in local events such as craft sales, bake sales, community garage sales to raise funds for, and awareness of Mary’s Meals Building and maintaining a network of contacts in your community who are interested in our work; keeping them informed about local events; sharing inspiring stories and successes from program countries Fundraising can be a component of any events you organize

Desired Qualifications: Knowledgeable of Mary’s Meals (orientation provided), passionate about helping the world’s poorest children, kind and respectful, self-motivated, positive attitude

Support Provided: Handbook and orientation, quarterly meetings with other volunteers where possible, personal support from local Team Leader or other Mary’s Meals staff/volunteers

Location: Positions are available in communities across Canada

Required Availability: Position is flexible, we ask for a commitment of a few hours per month; volunteers can be short-term or long-term

Start Date: Ongoing

Benefits to Volunteer: Benefits include a volunteer t-shirt, being a valued part of a global family that is helping a large number of children in some of the world’s poorest communities, social gatherings and volunteer appreciation events, learning about your impact on children in need through receiving information from program countries regularly, opportunity to develop skills such as public speaking, presentation skills, leadership, organization skills, etc., gain experience that can be used on your resume

Results of your Efforts: By more people being aware of Mary’s Meals and given the opportunity to join our mission, ultimately, we can reach more children who are in need of our school feeding programs.

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.

Our mission is 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 welcome all into the Mary’s Meals family and we believe everyone has something important to contribute to the realization of our vision.

We hope you’ll consider joining our family. To apply for this volunteer position, please email your interest to volunteer.canada@marysmeals.org

Summary: Around 64 million of the world’s hungriest children do not attend school. In order to survive, they have to work or beg for food. For millions more who do make it into the classroom, hunger affects their ability to learn.

Mary’s Meals is currently providing a daily school meal to over 2 million children in 20 developing countries around the world. We are working on changing the lives and future of chronically hungry children and their communities. But we can’t do it without your help.

Mary’s Meals is a low-cost, grassroots organization. Our global average cost to feed a child (a nutritious daily meal at school) for one year is just $22.60.

Mary’s Meals Canada is seeking Volunteer Team Leaders to support our local volunteer Ambassadors in your community.

Key Duties and Responsibilities: Responsible for the overall coordination of volunteers within a local volunteer group. Team Leaders are critical to the work of Mary’s Meals by creating a vital link between the organization and volunteers on the ground.       

Duties of Team Leaders include:

Organizing and hosting quarterly volunteer group meetings Ensuring volunteers feel supported and understand what is required of them Creatively finding ways to show appreciation for local volunteers Providing training to new volunteers (resources supplied by Mary’s Meals Canada) Being available to answer questions/provide support when needed Assisting in giving presentations to local groups, schools, churches, etc. Assisting with setting up information booths at local events or conferences to educate the public about child hunger, barriers to education and our Simple Solution to World Hunger Building and maintaining a network of contacts in your community who are interested in our work; keeping them informed about local events; inviting those who are interested to join volunteer group; sharing inspiring stories and successes from program countries Facilitating setting of group/individual goals and sharing goals, successes and challenges with Mary’s Meals Canada

 

Desired Qualifications: Good interpersonal skills, good communicator, excellent listener, knowledgeable of Mary’s Meals (orientation provided), passionate about helping the world’s poorest children, reliable, kind and respectful, positive attitude, strong management/leadership skills (can be developed)

 Support Provided: Handbook and orientation, in-person or remote training by Mary’s Meals Canada staff

 Location: In your community

 Required Availability: Position is flexible, we ask for a commitment of a 15-20 hours per month; minimum term of one year

 Start Date: Immediately

 Benefits to Volunteer: Benefits include being part of a global family that is helping a large number of children in some of the world’s poorest communities, feel great about enabling our volunteers on the ground to support children in need, learning about your impact on children in need through receiving information from program countries regularly, opportunity to develop skills such as public speaking, presentation skills, leadership skills, organizational skills, gain experience that can be used on your resume

 Results of your Efforts: Local volunteer Ambassadors receive needed support, appreciation and guidance and therefore have a more fulfilling volunteer experience. This leads to more people being aware of Mary’s Meals and given the opportunity to join our mission. This means we can reach more children, families and communities who are in need of our school feeding programs.

 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.

 Our mission is 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 welcome all into the Mary’s Meals family and we believe everyone has something important to contribute to the realization of our vision.

 We hope you’ll consider joining our family. To apply for this volunteer position, please submit an application form to volunteer.canada@marysmeals.org