GLASGOW, Scotland — Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently announced via X that, following a six-week review, 83% of USAID programs would be canceled — a sweeping shift that means tens of billions of dollars will no longer be directed toward foreign aid.
There was a predictable reaction — some decrying the move, others welcoming it, seeing such aid as largely misspent and never reaching those who truly needed it.
But what did the announcement feel like for an aid agency working on the ground?
Mary’s Meals is a Scottish charity that supports school food programs in some of the world’s poorest communities, helping ensure that hunger and poverty do not prevent children from gaining an education. Since its founding in 2002, Mary’s Meals has grown from feeding 200 children in Malawi to a global campaign that now feeds more than 2.6 million children in 16 countries, including Ethiopia, Haiti, South Sudan and Yemen.
The Register spoke to the charity’s founder and CEO, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, and asked: What would you say to those cynical about aid agencies?
“Every action in support of Mary’s Meals really does have a life-changing impact on children living in poverty,” he begins.
“We are incredibly proud of the impact of our school feeding programs and have witnessed generational change in countries such as Malawi and Zambia, where we have been working for many years. There are countless examples of former students who received Mary’s Meals at school, who have grown up to be healthy and educated individuals, and who are now providing for their families — with their own children now attending school and receiving Mary’s Meals. They are the greatest evidence of our success: We call them Generation Hope.”
He cites the charity’s greatest asset as not being monetary, but rather the “dedicated individuals working behind the scenes” — volunteers who prepare school meals for children in their own communities. He feels these volunteers are the real “experts in the knowledge of global child hunger.”
So, what did he make of the Rubio announcement?
“Mary’s Meals is not currently receiving any U.S. or U.K. government aid, so our school feeding programs are not directly impacted by the news,” he explains. “However, the communities we serve very much are. At a time of acute need, any reductions in aid budgets or essential services are devastating, as they put lives in danger and exacerbate already challenging circumstances.”
MacFarlane-Barrow goes on to say that across the world, many communities are battling rising costs, food shortages, aid cuts, climate change and, in some cases, conflict — all factors that exacerbate chronic levels of hunger and poverty. It is in that world that Mary’s Meals provides children with a daily meal at school, creating a “ripple effect,” he says, that goes far beyond each child who receives one of those meals.
He then lists the secondary effects of simply providing a daily meal. First, it helps free up some of a family’s limited resources. Second, if the child is at school all day, parents are freer to work. And, self-evidently, a family’s food supplies last longer. So, he concludes, the work of Mary’s Meals does not benefit only a child — it has a positive impact on the entire family and the community it belongs to.
One wonders if the recent — and at times cynical — media coverage has made life more difficult for Mary’s Meals.
“Our values guide our work. Above all, the children we serve are at the heart of what we do. We are determined to be good stewards of all funds that are entrusted to us and recognize that our work and ongoing growth rely on the innate goodness of people. These beliefs are central to our decision-making as we continue learning and improving efficiencies across our low-cost and effective programs,” states MacFarlane-Barrow, who is clear that “every action in support of Mary’s Meals really does have a life-changing impact on children living in poverty.”
How are donations holding up in the current economic climate?
“We understand that many of our supporters are facing new financial pressures and uncertainty.” He lists inflation and rapidly increasing food costs in particular, noting that these factors make it difficult for the charity to forecast growth over the coming years.
That said, he observes that it has “always been this way for the Mary’s Meals family. Since the beginning, we’ve chosen to be present in places of uncertainty, challenge and fear, so we have a certain experience of this. Part of our reason for being there is to be a sign of hope — and more than ever, that is a responsibility for Mary’s Meals today.”
In February 2025, MacFarlane-Barrow attended the Vatican’s first Children’s Rights Summit, where he spoke about Mary’s Meals as “a provider of hope” — very much a theme of the current Jubilee Year.
“Hope has always been a very special word for us,” he says. “There could be no better way to help the world’s poorest communities escape from poverty, and no better way to uphold the right to hope for every child than a promise that every child in the world will receive a daily meal in their place of education.”
This work of mercy, he feels, is more important than ever today.
Although Mary’s Meals is not officially an agency of the Catholic Church, its “approach and values are shaped by Catholic social teaching,” maintains MacFarlane-Barrow, who is adamant that the charity’s work “belongs to Our Blessed Mother in a particular way — we dare to do this in her name, so we have a huge responsibility to carry out our work in a way that honors her.”
During Lent this year, MacFarlane-Barrow says, there were many opportunities for those involved with Mary’s Meals to live out the traditional practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
Many supporters fasted “intentionally, in solidarity with those who don’t have enough food to eat,” he says. Others prayed “for our work or give in whatever way they can — through donations, time, telling our story, reading our book. No act for Mary’s Meals is too small!”
And Mary’s Meals has no plans to scale back in the current climate. On the contrary, it has ambitious plans to expand its school feeding program this year to reach even more children than before.
“Mary’s Meals has grown so quickly over the years, and I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved,” says MacFarlane-Barrow. “But it’s impossible to feel truly proud when neighboring schools have empty classrooms crying out for Mary’s Meals to reach them, and emaciated children are still begging to survive instead of attending school. Our prayer is that every child in this world can eat every day in their place of education — and with the support of like-minded people and God blessing our efforts, we know this is possible.”