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Contents: A story that shapes us, impact updates from each of our partners, and resources for deeper engagement.
The Story
Why we moved from rejecting a school feeding program to serving over 1.4 million meals:
In 2011, we were touring a classroom in Douin, Haiti, when a student fainted from hunger-induced exhaustion.
After the student received care, our local partner Jean Alix Paul, asked us to help him develop an in-school feeding program. Faintings like this were common, and it’s nearly impossible to learn while starving. But this sort of program didn’t fit our mission. We focused exclusively on serving orphaned and abandoned children, not school systems. We told him we wouldn’t be able to help with a school meals initiative, and his reply reshaped our organization:
“I understand why you can’t help us with the school meals. Come back in three months when these students are abandoned. You can help them then…”
Twelve years ago, Jean Alix cut into our hearts in order to show us that the best way to serve orphaned and abandoned children is to help ensure that parents are never forced to make this tragic decision in the first place.
In-school meal programs dramatically increase school attendance while decreasing the daily financial burden on parents pulling their families out of extreme poverty. These meals play a critical role in keeping families united.
Last year alone, the Help One Now community helped our partners serve 1,462,478 school meals to students around the world.
This is The Upstream – following the lead of our international partners with courageous humility in order to get at the root causes of extreme poverty.
We’re glad you’re here!
The Data
Our 2022 Annual Report:
We recently released our 2022 Annual Report! Join us in looking back to celebrate all we have accomplished together in our partner communities.
Read the Full Report Now
The Deeper Dive
Perspective and insight from the World Bank and our COO, Lamar Stockton:
Global trends in extreme poverty from the World Bank…
It takes a powerful force to break the cycle of poverty…
Want to learn more about how to move Upstream together? Contact our team for any questions or to talk through how you can join this story and change the world!
