Former fish farmer feeds 1 million kids every school day

[David_42]

This man is a wonderful human being, we need more like him.
Mary's Meals feeds 1 million kids each school day - CNN.com

A bowl of porridge.

It can seem so simple. But for a hungry child and his parents, it is reason to celebrate.

Every weekday, in 12 countries around the globe, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow gives this life-changing gift to schoolchildren. His program, Mary's Meals, has provided them with free, nutritious meals since 2002.

MacFarlane-Barrow and his group now have their own reason to celebrate.

Last month, his program hit a major milestone: Mary's Meals feeds more than 1 million children every school day. That's 5 million meals every week.

"It's a mind-boggling number," said MacFarlane-Barrow, who still runs the program from a tin shed on his father's Scottish farm.

He and the group recently celebrated the achievement in Malawi, where the program began.

The former salmon farmer was recognized in 2010 as a Top 10 CNN Hero. At the time, his program was feeding 400,000 children a day.

See more CNN Heroes

CNN's Kathleen Toner talked with MacFarlane-Barrow about the milestone and the journey that got him there. Below is an edited version of their conversation:

CNN: One million children, every school day. How does that feel?

Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow: It's something we never could have imagined.

We celebrated in a small village in Malawi in the middle of nowhere, quite a remote, beautiful village. And the whole village was part of the celebrations. The chiefs, the head teachers, and the children, of course, were the center of the celebration. We were singing and dancing. It was just a very, very special day. The joy of those kids is just something incredible to experience.