The Christadelphian Meal-a-Day Fund (CMaD) is an international family of charities founded by the Christadelphians.[1] Its stated intent is, as a practical witness to the Christadelphian faith, 'to share the blessings we receive from God to help those who are in real need in the less developed parts of the world'.[2] It seeks to 'support sustainable ‘down to earth’ projects that focus on supporting vulnerable children, the provision of clean water, agricultural skills, basic health care and education and a meal a day'.
Aside from the major, long term projects, the fund has made significant one-off donations to other causes,[6] e.g., Tree Aid (which plants trees in Africa 'to reduce poverty and protect the environment'[7]), Village Water (providing wells and a programme of hygiene education to rural Zambian villages[8]), WhizzKids United (an Africaid-run HIV/AIDS education programme using football to teach lessons about health[9]) and others.
The Christadelphian Meal-a-Day fund was founded in Tamworth, UK, in 1976. The name was inspired by a speech of Henry Kissinger's, in which he said everyone on earth should have at least one meal a day.[1]
In 1999, representatives also started working in Australia to raise awareness and funding for projects in Nepal, Thailand, India, the Autonomous Region of Bougainville and Zambia.[1] A revised, three-region structure was introduced in 2007, with aid for Europe, the Middle East and Africa being managed by the UK committee, aid for Asia-Pacific managed by an Australian committee, and that for North and Latin America and the Caribbean by a committee based in the United States and Canada.[1]
CMaD has a number fundraising channels, including donations from individuals, donations from church collections, legacies, sponsorship,[10] and the sale of various items, such as greeting cards.[11] In recent years, in the region of £750,000 per annum has been raised by CMaD UK, around 60% of which is currently used on long term projects that rely largely, or solely, on CMaD funding.