by Humera Dasu

Pious Projects of America, a not-for-profit charitable organization, started a campaign called Feed The Hungry in 2015. This project aims to get communities across North America involved in making lunches for the homeless and hungry.

The first Feed The Hungry campaign took place in Chicago in 2015, where 1,200 meals were made and distributed throughout the city. The following year, 21 cities, including Toronto, Canada, participated in National Feed the Hungry Day. Over 25,000 meals were prepared and distributed across America and Toronto.

Each city took on the responsibility of preparing 1,000-2,000 lunches. A dedicated group of volunteers in every region participating, got together to fundraise money, order supplies and food, rent out venues and finally get together and prepare meals to distribute to local shelters.

Many of the volunteers involved in National Feed The Hungry Day are youth. In Toronto, all the volunteers are high school students who wish to give back to their community. Muntaha Malik, a former high school student from Toronto, Ontario, started this project in her community last year, with the help of her school’s Muslim Student Association.

“Someone had told me the Feed the Hungry event wasn’t a good idea because we could use the money for people in poorer countries. After running the event, I realized these kind of initiatives are exactly what the community needs: youth directly making a change, rather than  dropping some change in the donation box,” Malik said, while helping to raise funds at the local masjid for the next Feed The Hungry Event in her community.    

Toronto’s team of volunteers after their Feed The Hungry Event on September 23, 2016.

Pious Projects, the organization that started it all, work to help people participate in humanitarian charitable projects all around the world. They also serve as a crowdfunding platform to help others raise money for causes they with to contribute to.

According to their website, Pious Projects has a simple mission; “to empower everyone to change the world, one donation at a time.”

By funding projects that serve humanitarian missions, Pious Projects ensures that people of all cultures, religions and nationalities are included in worldwide campaigns to serve those who are suffering, regardless of who they are or where they come from.

This year, National Feed The Hungry Day is on October 28. Pious Projects of America has made a goal to make 100,000 lunches in their third year of running this campaign. Cities across America and Toronto are currently working hard to ensure that Feed The Hungry Day is successful once again.