Pranav Nair
Why Marcus Rashford is driven to end child food poverty in his mother’s own words
Manchester United star Marcus Rashford has emerged as a hero with his campaign to end child food poverty.
The 23-year-old has forced the British government into two humiliating U-turns over providing free meals for hungry children this year.
His campaigning also resulted in helping FairShare provide two million meals a week to the needy in the country. Rashford was awarded an MBE for his efforts in combating hunger in the United Kingdom. (h/t Manchester Evening News)
Speaking on BBC (h/t Evening Standard), the player’s mother opened up on their family’s struggles that are currently driving her son’s efforts to ensure no child goes to bed on an empty stomach.
Melanie Maynard revealed that she worked three jobs to ensure her kids had food on the table. She would also sometimes sacrifice her portion to ensure her children had enough for themselves.
“I’d rather give the food to the kids than give it to myself, sometimes I didn’t get anything to eat.”
These experiences have given Rashford a first-hand understanding of the difficulties faced by a section of society. His statements on the topic are geared from having gone through the experience at a personal level.
“Marcus is only telling the story from how he sees it and the words he has been saying come from the bottom of his heart.”
Motivation from adversity!
Rashford too went on to add that the struggles faced by his family motivated him to do well and make it as a footballer. Now that he has done just that, the 23-year-old is in a position to positively impact other children in his situation.
“When you come from a place of struggle and pain, a lot of the time it switches and it becomes your drive and motivation.”
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They say one must not judge a man without walked in their shoes. The United star must have a large shoe size as he continues to raise the bar in giving back to society.
The programme filmed Rashford and his mother as they travelled with BBC Breakfast’s Sally Nugent to food charity FareShare. It was revealed a new unit would be named Melanie Maynard House.
Maynard will do well to remember that she has given birth and raised a true hero. Not all heroes wear capes, one wears the number 10 shirt at Manchester United.
