One of the most successful new charities in Canada launches in Ottawa with plans for their biggest start in history — to help youths in need.
It’s a staggering statistic. Every day in Canada, restaurants serve their customers over 8 million meals. And yet, so many don’t have enough to eat, including our youth. Mealshare partners with local restaurants to help tackle the problem of food insurity for at rish youths. Read on to find out more about this incredible movement.
Together with Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, a renowned charity in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Halifax and Edmonton called Mealshare, will launch in Ottawa with its largest kick off in history.
“While it took us a long time to get to the Capital, Ottawa promises to be our fastest and biggest launch to date. We’re so excited to help youth in need here, and we should have come here sooner!” says Mealshare Co-Founder Jeremy Bryant.
Mealshare’s launch event will be hosted on June 14th at 5:30pm at The Shore Club (one of the first restaurants signing up for Mealshare). Located in The Westin Hotel, Mayor Jim Watson will be on site as Ottawa welcomes Mealshare while they unveil their plans to help end youth hunger in Ottawa.
The Shore Club’s Craig Stevenson says, “It just made sense to us. We host guests from across the country, and this program helps our struggling youths here in Ottawa. Our guests will love having a tangible way to help the city they invariably think of as their home away from home.”
Here’s how it works: Mealshare works with restaurants who display the Mealshare logo next to a few menu items. For every Mealshare item sold, Mealshare provides one meal to a youth in need. Buy one, give one – it’s simple! In Ottawa, Mealshare is partnering with Operation Come Home to provide meals to homeless and at-risk youth. They also work with Save the Children internationally.
Executive Director Elspeth McKay says, “We believe it’s an incredible gift to give diners at our supporting restaurants the ability to do their part to help youths struggling in our community. Our youth feel nobody cares about them. What a strong message this is… that thousands of people do.”
In Canada, more than one million youth are food insecure. On the other hand, eight million Canadians dine out every day! Mealshare is a simple way to turn this Dining Out, into Helping Out.
Since 2013, Mealshare has provided 703,140 meals through operations in Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and Halifax. We’re excited to see how many youth in need will benefit through the initiative here in the generous city of Ottawa!
Kimothy Walker of Ottawa Media Group has donated her company’s services to help Mealshare spread the word and OMG was their first community supporter. Mealshare would like to thank their founding sponsors, Dan Greenberg and Barbara Crook from Danby, Hydro Ottawa, Wesley Clover and Tartan Homes for making them feel welcome in their own home away from home.
For more information on the Mealshare launch or what they do:
Ottawa – Kimothy Walker, Ottawa Media Group and Founding Supporter, 613-859-3753
Calgary – Jeremy Bryant, Mealshare Co-Founder, 780-554-4523
Ottawa – Alanna Smith, Mealshare Ottawa Community Leader (who can put you in touch with our participating restaurants) 403-863-8190
You can visit the Mealshare website at Mealshare.ca
