Ali Howat, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter | [email protected]
Jasperites are asked to head down to A&W for Mealshare Mondays and support youth in need.
So far, though the Jasper Food Bank Society, over 248 meals have been shared to youth in need, with numbers continuing to grow.
Back in February, Mealshare partnered with A&Ws across Canada and therefore entered its way into Jasper.
Mealshare is a non-profit organization that started back in Alberta eight years ago.
The goal of Mealshare is to be a part of a solution to end youth hunger, and to do that, they partner with restaurants.
The restaurants then brand an item or items on their menu as a Mealshare. Each time a guest orders that meal, a meal is provided to a youth in need.
The meals are provided both internationally and within the local community.
Partnering with the A&Ws was a big deal for the Mealshare organization, because it helped Mealshare focus on some of the smaller rural communities.
Prior to A&W, Mealshare was functioning mostly in larger communities such as Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto.
鈥淲e know that youth hunger is not just an issue in the larger communities; (in) small communities, youth don鈥檛 have enough to eat as well,鈥� said Mona Pinder, Calgary community leader for Mealshare.
By partnering with A&W, it鈥檚 helped Mealshare make a difference in smaller communities.
On June 14, Mealshare changed to the Beyond Burger.
Every Monday is Mealshare Monday, but A&W has the option to make it a Mealshare program, where if a customer is there any other day besides Monday and they add one dollar to their order, that dollar will be donated to charity.
The kids get a simple, healthy meal through their food hampers and through the Jasper Food Bank or their local food bank.
