Published: October 15, 2025
MONROVIA – Excitement filled the streets of Monrovia on Sunday, October 12, as team Mary’s Meals joined thousands of runners and walkers to cross the finish line of the Liberia Marathon, marking another milestone of the charity’s participation in the event. It can be recalled that the goal of Mary’s Meals’ participation in this year’s marathon was not only to reach the finish line but also to increase awareness of its “3 Million Smiles” campaign—a global initiative celebrating the organization’s growth from feeding just 200 children in Malawi in 2002 to now reaching over 3 million across 16 countries.
Dressed in the charity’s blue colors, symbolizing hope and unity, runners of Mary’s Meals completed the marathon to shine a spotlight on the importance of food and education for every child. The team was seen distributing stickers, encouraging other runners to be photographed with selfie frames, all with 3 million smiles campaign branding, as well as sharing the organization’s information with runners and walkers who participated in the marathon.
In a LinkedIn post, Menue Bainda, communications manager of Mary’s Meals Liberia, says, “It was indeed an inspiring experience for me at the Liberia Marathon on Sunday, October 12th, as I had the chance to speak to some runners about the mission and impact of Mary’s Meals and how they can support the program. A valuable lesson I learned yesterday is how effective simple branding displays can be at generating interest—even with little or no budget.”
Thomas Gbuka, Mary’s Meals HR Learning and Development Advisor, says, “Our participation in today’s event is about participating and networking with other runners from different backgrounds, it’s about team building, and it’s about telling people that Mary’s Meals is feeding more than 3 million children globally, including in Liberia, with life-changing school meals every school day.” “The Liberia Marathon gave us the perfect platform to share our mission—that no child should have to learn on an empty stomach,” said Thomas.
Mary’s Meals provides daily school meals to more than 90,000 children across 5 counties in Liberia, encouraging school attendance and helping children to focus and thrive in their studies.
To learn more or support Mary’s Meals’ school feeding programs, visit www.marysmeals.org.
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