A love of charity work and giving back has been at the root of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's relationship since the very beginning. Over the years, the couple has taken countless opportunities to meet and interact with different organizations dedicated to making the world a better place.
It's no surprise that this kind of work would have a place in Harry and Meghan's anniversary celebrations. May 19, 2021, marks three years since the couple's royal wedding. To say it's been a transformative three years for both the couple and the royal family is a serious understatement.
Harry and Meghan are leaning into the thing that brought them together this year in a big way. They've announced that their organization, the Archewell Foundation, will partner with World Central Kitchen to bring their next Community Relief Center to India, which is currently being ravaged by the global health crisis.
May 19 is a special day for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are celebrating their third wedding anniversary this year. It comes at an exciting time for the family, who recently celebrated Archie's second birthday and are preparing for the birth of their daughter next month.
The couple are expected to celebrate quietly at their California home. In keeping with traditional anniversary gifts, they're likely to exchange leather tokens of affection.
Harry and Meghan are also celebrating the occasion by focusing on the thing that drew them to each other: a commitment to service. Both Harry and Meghan have been deeply involved in charity work for much of their lives and combined those efforts into the Archewell Foundation. Now the Archewell Foundation is partnering with World Central Kitchen to bring relief to an area in dire need.
"As part of our ongoing philanthropic partnership, Archewell Foundation and World Central Kitchen are announcing plans today to build our next Community Relief Center in India, which is facing a devastating second wave of [the health crisis]," the organization announced.
"Right now, [virus] cases are spiking across the entire country of India. On Tuesday, India's total virus cases exceeded 25 million, with 260,000 new cases and 4,329 deaths reported in the past 24 hours. Hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost, millions have been infected, and there is widespread concern that the crisis is even worse than reported. In support of India, Archewell Foundation and World Central Kitchen are focusing on the long-term needs of local communities."
"Archewell Foundation and World Central Kitchen will establish our latest community relief center in Mumbai, India, which is also home to Myna Mahila, an Indian organization focused on women's health and employment opportunities that The Duchess of Sussex has long supported," the statement continues.
"The Mumbai location will be the third in a series of four Community Relief Centers that our organizations have committed to develop in regions of the world disproportionately affected by natural disaster. (Construction has already been completed on a relief center in the Commonwealth of Dominica; development of a relief center in Puerto Rico is underway.)"
"The purpose of these centers is to provide relief and resilience (as well as healing and strength) for the communities in which they're based," it continues.
"During future crises, these centers can be quickly activated as emergency response kitchens — or vaccination sites — and through calmer times they can serve as food distribution hubs, schools, clinics, or community gathering spaces for families.
"Today's announcement marks the latest in Archewell Foundation and World Central Kitchen's shared mission to support more compassionate, strong, and healthy communities."
On their wedding day three years ago, Harry and Meghan cemented their commitment to giving back by choosing seven organizations to give back to because they "represent a range of issues that they are passionate about."
Those charities included the Children’s HIV Association (CHIVA), Crisis, Myna Mahila Foundation, Scotty’s Little Soldiers, StreetGames, Surfers Against Sewage, and the Wilderness Foundation UK.
Since leaving their roles as senior royals, Harry and Meghan have carved out time to give back whenever they can. They've even started getting active with organizations nearby their California home, from Harry's time with veteran charity Walker Family Events Foundation to Meghan's work with Baby2Baby.
