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1 Million Meals for Kids Just Like Me

on  June 6, 2019

I don’t usually talk about this, not because of shame, but because it is about a time that was over two decades ago. It’s a hard subject to talk about. I was once hesitant about sharing my early life and family experiences, but I realized that those experiences helped shape who I am today, and have contributed toward my lifelong passion for giving back.I grew up in Brazil, where my two younger sisters and I had a happy childhood. My dad was a police officer and my mom was a bookkeeper. With three growing children in the home, money was not readily available. Luckily, my mom knew she could always count on the school’s free lunch to make sure we were fed during the day.Free school lunches provided my parents with peace of mind, knowing that their daughters were receiving essential nutrients to grow and learn even when times were tough. The lunches were healthy and warm; I can honestly remember how delicious they were. A favorite that sticks out in my mind is a rice dish (rice is a Brazilian staple) with Vienna sausages, carrots and peas.Fast forward to today, I have the privilege of working for a company that supports employee volunteerism and, in my role as Global Volunteer Program Manager, I empower colleagues around the world to support children who were just like me.Since 2014, AIG has partnered with Rise Against Hunger to purchase ingredients and host volunteer events that have enabled our colleagues to pack over 1 million meals.It was a proud moment to cross the 1 millionth meal mark during Rise Against Hunger’s largest event to date in New York City, where we packed 100,000 meals in one day. Those meals that were packed by the hands of so many AIG colleagues who are helping to nourish bodies and minds of young people in need. I hope that the meals provide parents around the globe with the same peace of mind that free nutritious meals provided my own parents as I was growing up.Are you interested in having your office join the movement to end hunger? Please visit our Engage Your Workplace page to learn more!

About the Author

Pamella Rodrigues, Global Volunteer Program Manager, AIG, manages the partnership between AIG and many of its national and global nonprofit partners, including Rise Against Hunger.

More Posts by Pamella Rodrigues

Strength, Stability And Hope

The gift that filled Nelly’s table.

“We were yielding very little, and the crops could not sustain us the whole year,” Nelly remembers. As a mother of seven and a farmer with two decades of experience, the stress of inconsistent yields was all-consuming. A poor harvest not only strained her family financially, but also limited their own meals to just two a day. Their story reflects that of many in their fishing and farming village near a lake in the Karonga district of northern Malawi. Here, heavy rainfall makes conventional farming methods nearly impossible. The entire village is, quite literally, saturated in food insecurity — a reality that leaves families struggling to survive season after season without a dependable source of nourishment.

In 2019, Nelly began participating in Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience, a sustainable agriculture project implemented by Rise Against Hunger in partnership with the Foundation for Community Support Services (FOCUS). The project works with 3,100 smallholder farmers in Malawi’s Karonga and Mzimba districts to strengthen food and nutrition security by improving production methods, nutrition practices and household income.

Just one year later, Nelly was ready to expand the variety of crops on her farm. What land once only produced maize began to flourish with sesame, cowpeas, rice and groundnuts during the rainy season (summer), as well as maize and vegetables during the dry season (winter). Through climate-smart agriculture training, she learned new techniques like manure making, pit planting and mulching, crop rotation and intercropping. Equipped with these tools, Nelly’s farm began to thrive.

After the 2023–2024 growing season, she sold enough produce to purchase an ox cart. Her harvests in 2024-2025 season yielded over 500 pounds of crops, including 22 bags of groundnuts, seven bags of maize, 12 tins of sesame and three bags of rice. With this surplus, she was able to invest in a motorbike, which she now uses to transport African doughnuts (mandasi) that she cooks and sells — creating yet another source of income for her family.

The transformation reaches far beyond her finances. Nelly now has the stability to provide for her husband and children. “I am able to eat different food types, pay school fees for my children and fulfill the visions that I have made with my family,” she beams. “I am now sleeping peacefully without any fears of food or paying school fees for the children.”

Her leadership has also grown. Today, Nelly serves as a leader in the Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience project, teaching other farmers in her district to adopt climate-resilient, labor-saving practices. By sharing her knowledge, she is multiplying her impact — empowering her neighbors to experience the same transformation she has achieved.

Across Nelly’s community, food and economic security are on the rise. Lombani, a government extension officer for the region, explains, “I can see the community is being transformed in the sense that in the area, there is food, income and nutrition security. Development is also happening at the household level.”

Nelly reflects on what it means to invest in holistic programs that address the root causes of hunger: “We are now healthy people. Children are going to school after eating their breakfast, having high yields and different types of crops due to conservation agriculture practices. With the support from the project, we have food, and we can access other food items from the market after selling our produce.”

This is the gift that fills: a future full of stability, strength and hope. It fills tables with food, families with security and communities with the resources to thrive. It’s an investment in futures rooted in resilience and hope.