At True Büch, one of our core values is to reinvest 10% of all our proceeds into community partners and projects we are passionate about. For our Flavour of the Month program, we partnered with Mealshare over a year ago, and with the help of our amazing customers - YOU - we have already provided over 2,500 meals to youth in need! Mealshare works as a "buy one, give one" model, and in the case of True Büch, every time you buy or fill a bottle of our Flavour of the Month, a meal is provided to a youth in need. It's a win-win!
We got to hang out with Breanne Sich from Mealshare this week at Brown Bagging for Calgary Kids. While we were cutting up apples for lunches we got to talking about their program and thought it was a story worth sharing…
How did Mealshare get started?
Mealshare started right here in Calgary in July 2013. Mealshare was created by two cousins, Andrew Hall & Jeremy Bryant, who saw an opportunity that could change the way people dine. Our founders were lucky enough to be working for multinational consulting and accounting firms, they felt fortunate about their circumstances but realized not everyone was as lucky. Then they learned that eight million Canadians dine out every single day, while over 200,000 youth are food insecure. They didn’t see this as a reason to feel guilty but rather an amazing opportunity. That’s when they had an idea. What if those 8 million people could help all those youth? What if we could turn dining out into helping out?
Eliminating youth hunger became Mealshare's goal. We know it's audacious so we are taking it step by step; youth hunger can’t be solved in a day, or even a couple years. But what we can do today and tomorrow is add more partner restaurants on, share more meals, and spread the word. If we can keep doing this, we can make a dent in youth hunger both locally, and internationally.
Why do you think the program has done so well in Calgary?
Calgary is a community. It is a city that lends a helping hand when it is called upon, and often, even when it is not. There is a strong alliance of generous souls here that want to see the city, the people, and the future of both continue to grow. Since inception, Mealshare has been welcomed into Calgary restaurants and organizations with open arms. These partners have invested time, resources, and positive interest into making it such a success.
All of this, coupled with the fact that Mealshare has some of the best restaurants and businesses in Calgary participating in the program, makes it easy for supporters to get involved.
If people want to get involved how can they?
There are a couple different ways to get involved:
1). Buy True Büch's flavour of the month! Every time you buy or fill a bottle, you will be providing a meal to a youth in need.
2) Go to a Mealshare partner restaurant and order the Mealshare item! Every time you order the item, you will be providing a meal to a youth in need.
3) Volunteer with us! Email Breanne@mealshare.ca for dates on when you can come lend a hand at one of our participating charity partners!
4) Be a Mealshare ambassador! Encourage others to “dine out, and help out”, volunteer, help promote, etc! Learn more by emailing Breanne@mealshare.ca
5) Know of a restaurant that may be a good fit for our program? Let Breanne know!