Source: www.dailystar.com.lb

It’s hard to concentrate on school when your stomach is growling with hunger. And it’s even harder to stay in school when there’s the option to work odd jobs and earn money for food – something education doesn’t immediately offer. To make sure kids stay in school and stay fed, Samer Sfeir has come up with a plan that does both. Meals for Schools, a concept he came up with two years ago – which is now up for an international award for social entrepreneurship – will serve food to impoverished schoolchildren in urban slum areas, starting with greater Beirut.

“It’s very simple. If you don’t have food, you won’t think about education,” says Sfeir, an MBA student at the American University of Beirut’s Olayan School of Business. He, along with two fellow AUB students, Chantale Saadeh and Elie Matta, founded the project.

The idea came from Sfeir’s five years of volunteer work with charity Saint Vincent de Paul, in which he witnessed some shocking cases of child poverty. With a background in both business and charity work, he thought he could make a real difference to help break the poverty cycle in Lebanon. “Education is the real solution to poverty,” he says.

The money will come from an award-winning social enterprise that Sfeir founded four years ago. Hub4Good connects social enterprises and non-governmental organizations to individuals and companies, acting as an online mall to sell products directly to consumers and eliminating the middleman.

A percentage of Hub4Good’s profit will be used to give coupons for meals to schools in poor areas. Once it gains traction, Sfeir hopes they will also be able to attract local corporate sponsors, particularly restaurants.

image: www.menassat.com