ShareTheMeal
 | |
| Founded | 2014 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Sebastian Stricker, Bernhard Kowatsch |
| Type | Non-profit organization |
| Location |
|
Area served | Developing countries |
| Method | Crowdfunding |
| Website | sharethemeal.org |
ShareTheMeal is an initiative of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) that uses a crowdfunding smartphone application to fight global hunger. It enables users to make small donations to specific WFP projects and to track its progress. ShareTheMeal has had over 1,100,000 downloads and more than 26 million meals shared.[1] Google awarded ShareTheMeal as one of the Best Apps of 2016 in the "Most Innovative" category.[2] At Google I/O in May 2017, ShareTheMeal won the Google Play Award for Best Social Impact[3], and in 2018, it was noted as one of Google Play’s Android Excellence Apps.
History
Sebastian Stricker and Bernhard Kowatsch founded ShareTheMeal in April 2014 in Berlin during a sabbatical as an independent startup. Since summer 2015, ShareTheMeal has been officially part of WFP and supported by the Innovation Accelerator of WFP. ShareTheMeal ran a pilot in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in the summer of 2015 providing 1.8 million school meals to children in Lesotho - the app’s first fundraising target.[4]
The app launched globally on November 12, 2015 for iOS and Android devices. The global launch campaign raised funds to give school meals to 20,000 Syrian children living in the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan for one year. It was successfully completed in less than 2 months.[5]
Between January and April 2016, ShareTheMeal raised funds to support 2,000 mothers and their babies in Homs, Syria, for a full year. In spring 2016, the app raised funds to support 1,400 Syrian refugee children between the ages of 3 and 4 in Beirut. The goals was completed in less than 7 weeks.[6] A subsequent operation supported 1,500 refugee children in Bar Elias, in the Bekaa Valley, for a full year. Their parents receive vouchers, allowing them to buy food in local shops. By doing so, it can help ensure the children have nutritious meals, a sense of stability and the chance to simply be children.
In August of 2016, the ShareTheMeal app fundraised to support the emergency food relief operation in Malawi, following one of the strongest El Niño events on record. The app’s goal was to provide school meals to 58,000 school children in Zomba, an area in southern Malawi particularly affected by the El Niño drought, for an entire year. ShareTheMeal joined what became WFP’s largest emergency food operation in the country’s history, as Malawi’s already strained food security situation worsened following that year’s El Niño event that fuelled a major, global food crisis. ShareTheMeal was able to raise funds to provide school meals to 58,000 children. The children, aged between 6 and 13 years, received a specially fortified porridge, through WFP’s school meals programme that supports the Government of Malawi’s National Social Support Programme. The daily porridge aimed to reduce short-term hunger and improve attention span in class, as Zomba is one of the 13 food insecure districts that had the lowest enrolment, highest dropout and repetition rates, and widest gender disparities.
In 2017 the ShareTheMeal community: provided school meals to 25,000 children in Cameroon affected by Boko Haram violence, 1,000,000 meals for those affected by famine in South Sudan, helped fight famine in Yemen, supported Syrian refugee children as well as vulnerable children in host communities in Lebanon, and provided school meals to children, worldwide.
In 2018 ShareTheMeal completed campaigns for Yemen, Syria and Uganda. The also launched The Table, a monthly giving campaign that virtually connects donors to a family that received food assistance. In August 2018, they reached 26 million meals shared.
From its 2015 beginning, the app has supported 13 of WFP’s most critical operations internationally in Lesotho, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Malawi, South Sudan, Cameroon, Yemen, Haiti, Uganda, Northeast Nigeria, Bangladesh and Yemen.
Operations
The donations made through the app go directly to fund WFP operations. ShareTheMeal ensures that payments reach children in need as efficiently and effectively as possible. On average, it costs to the WPF US$0.50 to feed one child for a day. This includes all costs related to feeding the children: foods, transport and preparation of meals, regular monitoring as well as all other relevant costs.
Awards and endorsements
Since launching in 2015, ShareTheMeal has gained public recognition from various organizations and corporations. In November 2015, ShareTheMeal won the Lead Academy’s LeadAward for Startup of the Year.[7] In December 2015, ShareTheMeal was included in Google’s Best Apps of 2015 collection and was part of Google’s 2015 Christmas Theme collection.[8] In March 2016, ShareTheMeal won the Innovation Interactive Award at SxSW for the New Economy category.[9] In April 2016, ShareTheMeal won the People's Voice award at the 20th Annual Webby Awards in the Mobile Sites & Apps Best Practices category.[10] In April 2016, ShareTheMeal was nominated for the Classy Award as One of the Most Innovative Nonprofits and Social Enterprises of 2016.[11] In October 2016, ShareTheMeal won the 2016 Lovie Awards in the Mobile & Applications Best Practices category.[12] In November 2016, ShareTheMeal was awarded 3 Shorty Social Good Awards, including "NGO of the Year".[13] In December 2016, ShareTheMeal was selected by Google as one of the Best Apps of 2016.[14] At Google I/O in May 2017, ShareTheMeal won the Google Play Award for Best Social Impact.[3] In 2018, ShareTheMeal was included among Google Play’s Android Excellence Apps.
ShareTheMeal was endorsed and supported by several celebrities, including the former President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz,[15] actress and singer Vanessa Hudgens,[16], actress Karoline Herfurth, actor Daniel Brühl, WFP Goodwill Ambassador and actress Hend Sabry, soccer player Kaká,[17] actor Mark Ruffalo, actress and comedian Sarah Silverman, and musician Grimes.[18]
