Not long ago, we found ourselves in a schoolyard in southwestern Kenya, eating bowls of githeri, a traditional meal of corn and beans. One of us is the world’s most-followed YouTube creator, and the other a former administrator of U.S.A.I.D. and now the president of a century-old foundation. We may seem like unlikely partners, but our charitable endeavors both led us to that schoolyard, where together we talked through how we could help more kids get a hot, nutritious meal at school. School meals are a powerful tool — and the ripple effects go far beyond hunger. We tend to think of pencils and notebooks as critical school supplies, but meals are just as vital. They make school a more worthwhile investment, because a classroom doesn’t mean much if the students are hungry. They also support local farmers and can be a lifeline when famines hit. This is why, as we wrote in a Times Opinion guest essay this week, our organizations are teaming up to provide children in Ghana and Kenya with daily school lunches — and we’ll be filming the entire endeavor. That last part is vital: Storytelling on platforms like YouTube is a crucial ingredient for charity in the 21st century. Many of MrBeast’s videos over the years have showcased acts of kindness: giving surprise gifts to strangers, providing access to clean water, running food pantries. We genuinely believe that people are naturally kind and want to show up for each other — they just need to know how. At a time when so much online content is divisive, distracting or false, we’re betting that we can harness the extraordinary reach of YouTube to make kindness go viral.
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