A&W Canada Partnering with Mealshare to Help Feed Youth in Barrie

Youth hunger in Canada is very real: 1 in 5 youth are considered "food insecure" and Canada is the only G7 nation without a national school food program.

I spoke with Derek Juno, Executive Vice-President of Mealshare, about their new national partnership which will benefit youth right here in Barrie.

Listen to our conversation:

Mealshare's mission is to  end youth hunger during our lifetime.  They team up with restaurants who will designate certain menu items as Mealshare items. When you purchase a Mealshare item, the restaurant will donate a certain amount of money, equal to one healthy meal, to Mealshare, who then gives that money to their community partners. 80% of the funds stay in the community where the meal was purchased and 20% goes internationally to Save the Children.

New Partner Restaurant

Mealshare has a new national partner: A&W! This new partnership has a goal of sharing 1,250,000 meals per year across Canada. In Barrie, seven A&W locations are participating and Mealshare hopes to share almost 10,000 meals per year in association with Youth Haven.

Susan Senecal, Chief Executive Officer at A&W Canada, says, “Our national partnership with Mealshare will help us make a bigger difference with our operators and their teams across the country. Local franchisees from coast to coast are excited to be a part of this program because they’ve seen first-hand the needs in their communities and how these programs can provide immediate benefit and support. No child should ever go hungry, especially in a country like Canada, so we’re thrilled that we can be a part of this initiative.”

How You Can Participate

On ‘Mealshare Mondays’, you can order a Cheddar Bacon Uncle Burger Combo and one meal
will be provided to a youth in need through Mealshare.

On any day of the week, you can “Make it a Mealshare” on any menu item and $1.00 will be added to your A&W order. That money will go to Mealshare. You can do this in-restaurant, Drive-Thru and on the A&W mobile app.

Starting today, every Monday is Mealshare Monday. When you buy a Cheddar Bacon Uncle Burger Combo, we'll provide one simple, healthy meal to a kid in need through @Mealshare. pic.twitter.com/j55SsvY7dN

— A&W Canada (@AWCanada) February 1, 2021

Images: Mealshare, A&W