Michael Kors is excited to announce the next step in the evolution of Watch Hunger Stop, the brand’s global philanthropic platform focused on fighting hunger in partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). Beginning immediately, Watch Hunger Stop will support WFP’s Home-Grown School Feeding program, an innovative and proven way to help support local farmers and build more resilient communities while providing life-changing school meals to children in need.
Michael Kors’ partnership with the World Food Programme began in 2013 with the mission of providing nutritious school meals to children in food-insecure regions of the world. Over the past decade, the brand helped WFP deliver over 35 million school meals. Now, Michael Kors is diving deeper to support lasting change in the communities that WFP serves. Home-Grown School Feeding supports entire communities, in large part by helping women and girls transform their own futures while improving local economies.
At the heart of the Home-Grown School Feeding approach is a focus on supporting local school meal suppliers so that they can grow safe, nutritious and diverse food to feed children at school. By connecting school caterers to local farmers, the program ensures that the ingredients in school meals are sourced from the local community and enrich the local economy. This provides local farmers, many of whom are women, with a reliable source of income, along with useful training and tools. With this circularity at its core, Home Grown School Feeding benefits local communities and supports the establishment of better-designed, sustainable food systems.
Michael Kors and WFP have identified Sri Lanka as the first country where they will work together to expand Home Grown School Feeding activities. The partnership with Michael Kors will enable WFP to reach an additional 300,000 children with consistent school meals and assist 1,000 more farmers to supply eggs, vegetables, and fruit for those meals. WFP has been working in Sri Lanka for over 55 years, supporting the government in its efforts to improve food security, address malnutrition, and promote sustainable development. With help from Michael Kors, WFP will also be able to renovate kitchens and classrooms and implement sustainable solar panels in schools, among other infrastructure improvements.
"I’m very excited about the evolution of Watch Hunger Stop. Home-Grown School Feeding is designed to achieve longer-term, sustainable impact, and it highlights the importance of women and girls in transforming the future. It’s a smart, efficient, and effective way to fight hunger and promote education," says designer Michael Kors. "I’ve always believed that the fight against global hunger is one we can win, and as we enter our second decade working with WFP, I’m more encouraged than ever that we are helping to build a better world."
"We’re thrilled by Michael Kors’ continued commitment to supporting WFP’s work. The company has provided millions of nutritious school meals for children over the past ten years," says Cindy McCain, WFP Executive Director. "With global hunger at alarmingly high levels, it’s vital we invest in programs that enable the vulnerable people we serve to become more self-sufficient. Thanks to Michael’s humanitarian leadership and the brand’s commitment, our home-grown school meals program will benefit even more children and communities across Sri Lanka."