By Alex Rake (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: November 26, 2014
UFV global development students Cydney Myers, Kara Hanson, and Carolina Silva have created a campaign called Share My Next Meal to encourage donations to local food banks. The challenge is based on the way people often post pictures of their meals to social media.
According to its Facebook page, “The challenge is to post a photo of your next meal with the hashtag #sharemynextmeal. Tell your friends who you will be sharing your next meal with what local food bank you are donating to. Then challenge three friends to do the same.”
The challenge asks people “to donate a portion of the cost of their meal to their local food bank. They can donate in person at the food bank, or online on the food banks’ individual websites.”
The creators of the challenge recognize that “the idea of this campaign is very similar to the popular ALS Ice Bucket Challenge campaign that exploded on social media in the summer,” and they “hope that this has the same effect.”
“Although created in Abbotsford, we hope that this challenge will take off and help out many communities across the country.”
According to the Chilliwack Progress, Share My Next Meal has already spread as far as Ontario, even reaching the US in Colorado and Texas, just seven days after its launch. By comparison, it took 20 days before popular figures began participating in the ALS ice bBucket challenge.
More information, including updates on the food bank and homelessness situation in Abbotsford, are available on the group’s Facebook page.
