President Stella was pleased to welcome Tim Olsen as our speaker at the July meeting. Tim is a coffee shop manager and devotes much of his spare time to raising funds and awareness for the charity Mary’s Meals, most recently by walking the entire length of Hadrian’s Wall with his son.
He spoke about how the charity started from humble beginnings when two Scottish fishermen wanted to help after seeing the crisis in Bosnia on the television news 22 years ago. They collected donations locally, filled a van and drove to Bosnia. When they returned home people had collected more aid and so the Scottish International Relief charity was started. It was realised that children in developing countries would be encouraged to attend school if they were offered a midday meal there, and the charity developed and became Mary’s Meals. Food is sourced locally for these feeding stations, and so helps the whole community.
He also spoke about the backpack project, which SI Manchester has supported and will do so again this autumn, which provides the students of these schools with school supplies and other essentials. Tim has visited schools in Malawi and India, and shared his experiences with us. Although the charity has its roots in a Christian community and takes its name from the Virgin Mary, aid is given to any community in need regardless of religion. The charity uses only 7% of donations for administration, with 93p of every pound donated being used for school feeding stations.