VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 8, 2021 /CNW/ - Since February 2021, Canadians across the country have helped donate more than 650,000 simple, healthy meals to kids in need through the new Mealshare partnership at A&W Canada restaurants. Now, A&W Canada and Mealshare are celebrating by revealing the most generous cities in the country, ranked by Mealshare donations at A&W. 

Lac La Biche, Alberta is ranked the most generous place in Canada (donating over 3,800 meals in a town with a population of 2,314 people), as determined by the number of Mealshare meals donated per capita. Other generous standouts include, Provost, AB, Sainte-Hélène-de-Bagot, QC and Comber, ON .

A&W Canada and Mealshare first announced the national partnership in February 2021, with a goal of sharing 1,000,000 meals this year. With over 1,000 A&W restaurants across Canada, Canadians have been showing their support through participating in Mealshare Monday.

"Right now, 1 in 5 Canadian kids are food insecure, so we teamed up with Mealshare to make it easy for our guests to donate a meal to a child in need," says Julia Cutt, Director of Marketing at A&W. "We've been blown away by the generosity of Canadians and are thrilled to pass the 650,000 meal milestone. Now we're aiming for 1,000,000!"

"We're grateful to work with A&W as a partner in helping us on our mission to feed hungry kids across the country," says Jeremy Bryant, Co-Founder of Mealshare. "It's our goal to ensure every child has access to healthy meals, and we won't stop until that's happened."

How customers can participate at A&W:

• On 'Mealshare Monday', customers can order a Beyond Meat Burger and one meal will be provided to a youth in need through Mealshare.

• Any day of the week, customers can "Make it a Mealshare" by adding $1.00 to their order. When customers do this, one meal will be provided to a youth in need through Mealshare.

• Customers can participate in-restaurant, through drive-thru, or by using the mobile app.

Canadians can look at how many meals have been donated at their local restaurant, including other participating Mealshare restaurants, by viewing the Mealshare tracker published on their website.

About A&W Canada

At A&W Canada, 'good food makes good food,' but there's more to the brand's story than that. From using compostable packaging to fundraising to support Canadians living with Multiple Sclerosis, the brand strives to make a positive impact nationally in all the communities its restaurants operate in.

A&W is proud to be a Canadian company – 100% Canadian owned and operated, and one of the most trusted brands in the country. A leader in the QSR industry, we believe that sourcing simple, great-tasting ingredients, farmed with care is the right thing to do. Our brand, our restaurants, and our people are known for being innovators who champion and embrace change. We serve Canadians coast to coast with more than 1,000 restaurants across the country. For more information, please visit aw.ca.

Facebook: AWCanada | Twitter: @AWCanada | Instagram: @AWCanada

About Mealshare

Mealshare believes nutritious food is essential for all children, especially when 1 in 5 children are food insecure in this country. We are committed to creating a world where it's easier to share with those in need, and every child and youth is fed as a result. We won't stop until we've seen the end of youth hunger.

Mealshare was founded in 2013 with four partner restaurants in Alberta. Now, the organization has expanded to 1200+ restaurants across Canada and partnering with A&W Canada is the next milestone for the organization.

Our social enterprise has provided over 4.5 million meals since inception, with our simple "Buy One, Give One" model. Canadians can purchase a Mealshare menu item at a participating restaurant and one meal will be donated to youth struggling with hunger through our network of local city charity partners and our international partner, Save the Children Canada. For more information, visit our website at Mealshare.ca.

Facebook: MealshareTeam | Twitter: @MealshareTeam | Instagram: @Mealshare

SOURCE A&W Food Services of Canada Inc.