International humanitarian charity Feed The Hungry UK is appealing for local businesses to help fill a shipping container with enough food for children in Zimbabwe.

The new Boxes of Hope Campaign comes following a stark warning by the United Nations that over half of the nation’s rural population will be ‘food insecure’ by early next year. It comes in the wake of a food crisis that’s been exacerbated by a combination of recent weather extremes including extended droughts and soaring temperatures.

This Christmas, the humanitarian aid charity Feed The Hungry UK is asking businesses and organisations to respond to this crisis by filling a shipping container with enough food to provide 285,000 meals.

The challenge is for around 30 business partners to each raise £2,500 - enough money for 10,000 rice meals.

The Projects Director for Feed The Hungry, Gavin Kibble MBE, said:

“We’ve worked in Zimbabwe for over 20 years and already have established feeding programmes in Harare. Because of the challenging conditions that have led to crop failure, we’ve started new programmes in more rural areas of Zimbabwe. Now, we’re regularly feeding 19,500 children every school day."

“These rice meals are cheap - just 25p per meal - but the mix of ingredients in each meal gives the carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and minerals that a child needs to thrive. We’ve seen whole schools where malnutrition has been eradicated because the students are regularly eating this food. Businesses can give 10,000 of these meals for a donation of just £2,500.”

The Christian humanitarian organisation is regularly helping more than 485,000 children with meals, working with partners in 25 countries around the world to fight hunger due to poverty, war, famine and natural disasters. This is delivered home and abroad mainly through feeding programs and encouraging sustainability and Community Farming projects as well as holding packing events at the Halo Centre warehouse in Coventry.

As part of the Boxes of Hope Campaign, for any company that can raise the money for the 10,000 meals, Feed The Hungry will come and run a food packing activity in which staff can pack the rice meals themselves. Packing 10,000 meals takes a team of 40 people around 2.5 hours.

Head of Fundraising for Feed The Hungry, Rich Smith, said:

“We’re looking for companies of all sizes to take part. The donation for 10,000 meals doesn’t need to come from the business itself, but instead, we’d encourage staff to take part in fundraising as a team to raise the money. We’ve got online donation forms that can be set up for each company taking part so that you can see how much you’ve raised in real-time. And we’ve got loads of ideas to help you raise the money in enjoyable ways as a team.”

“Feed The Hungry run food packing events up and down the UK. We can come to your business and bring all of the equipment, ingredients and expertise so that your staff can help pack the meals that they’ve raised the money for. Meal packing is an amazing way for your staff to participate tangibly in helping to tackle world hunger, it’s a lot of fun and a great way to build your team.”