MERITAS FAMILY OF SCHOOLS AND FEEDING CHILDREN EVERYWHERE ANNOUNCE FIVE-YEAR PARTNERSHIP
Organizations Pledge to Pack Millions of Meals to Feed Children Worldwide
(Northbrook, Ill.) January 19, 2012 – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates 925 million people are undernourished; more people are going hungry than the populations of the U.S., Canada and the European Union combined. More alarming, FAO reports, “Every five seconds, a child dies from hunger-related diseases.”
Recognizing the scope of this global issue, The Meritas Family of Schools and Feeding Children Everywhere today announced a five-year partnership in an effort to help put an end to worldwide hunger. The Meritas family includes 10 internationally recognized K–12 independent schools that collectively educate more than 12,000 students in Europe, Asia, Latin America and North America. Feeding Children Everywhere (FCE) is a nonprofit organization that empowers and mobilizes people from all walks of life to help meet one of our basic human needs: food.
Over the next five years, Meritas students at each school are committed to raising funds and participating in packing events that will create and deliver millions of meals to hungry children in the U.S. and in different regions around the world.
“At our network of global schools, our students have the unique ability to collaborate and help children in need with a larger impact than any single school can, which is very exciting,” says Mac Gamse, CEO of Meritas Family of Schools. “Community service is an integral part of our students’ experience and we feel a responsibility to set our students on a path to becoming compassionate global citizens.”
Students will also have additional opportunities to be involved with FCE. They can distribute FCE donation boxes, collaborate with faculty to create other school-specific fundraising and educational initiatives, and purchase FCE apparel. The FCE team will travel to each location to direct the packing events, and the food boxes will be sent to the school’s country of choice.
"We could not be more thrilled to work with Meritas students and families,” adds Don Campbell, executive director of Feeding Children Everywhere. “Meritas is doing so much more than a fundraiser for our charity. They – the students, teachers, administration and families – are putting their hands to the plow. In other words, people become the bridge between donations and the children they reach. Together, we are Feeding Children Everywhere."
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ABOUT MERITAS FAMILY OF SCHOOLS
Meritas is a worldwide family of college-preparatory schools that provides highly personalized education to more than 12,000 students at our 10 schools across the globe. Meritas schools are comprised of top-performing teachers who challenge each child to make optimal progress, both academically and socially. As a result, Meritas students go on to their top-choice universities with the critical-thinking and complex problem-solving skills needed to excel in life. As a collaborative global network with schools in some of the world’s most influential nations, Meritas is focused on developing the world’s next generation of leaders. For more information, visit www.meritas.net.
ABOUT FEEDING CHILDREN EVERYWHERE
Feeding Children Everywhere (FCE) is a nonprofit organization based in Orlando, Fla. The FCE concept was launched in 2009. The driving mission is to mobilize individuals from all walks of life, empowering them to answer the need to end hunger through their own personal actions. Packing events show fundraising groups that they are having a tangible impact on the hunger crisis, as their involvement makes distribution possible. The food is provided at no cost to local organizations in the U.S. and in different regions around the world. To date, the FCE team has mobilized 30,000 people and shipped more than 5 million meals worldwide. Please visit www.feedingchildreneverywhere.com to learn more.
Contact:
Allison Grenesko, Meritas Family of Schools
312-805-0383
allison.grenesko@meritas.net
Don Campbell, Feeding Children Everywhere
407-688-6600
don@feedingchildreneverywhere.com
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