This year, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry helped to stage some of the biggest events in their post-royal careers, including this year’s edition of the Invictus Games, and culminating with an October panel for World Mental Health Day, which even included Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. Behind the scenes, their Archewell Foundation has been supporting other projects around the globe, and for the second year in a row, the foundation is summing up their achievements in an annual report, shared alongside a video that gives viewers a glimpse into their projects.
In the video, Meghan and Harry are seen visiting with women who are a part of the Welcome Project, a community group for displaced Afghan women. On a 2021 visit to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey, the couple were introduced to a group of women who were adjusting after relocating to the United States. An Archewell donation allowed veteran-led humanitarian organization Team Rubicon and refugee-resettlement charity Welcome.US, to start a program that would connect the women with resources like winter coats and provide opportunities for them to socialize.
In this year’s report, the foundation mentioned that Meghan was inspired to create a program in the vein of the Hubb Community Kitchen, an initiative for survivors of the Grenfell fire she helped support in London. Now, Archewell has announced that the Welcome Project has helped 237 women at 11 different sites across the nation, with programs “designed to foster a sense of belonging through activities including sewing, art, hiking, swimming, photography, storytelling, and cooking.”
The video also shows footage from the charity’s other engagements from the year, including Meghan’s trip to volunteer at Harvest Home, a Los Angeles-based charity supporting pregnant women and newborns, for International Women’s Day in March and her and Harry’s visit to Brooklyn’s Marcy Lab School during their October trip to New York City. It also details the process that went into packing school supplies and menstrual products for 2,500 girls in Nigeria for their partnership with the Geanco Foundation.
The report also details the foundation’s ongoing connection with a preschool in a South African township that Meghan and Harry visited during their Fall 2019 tour of the country. Earlier this year, the foundation found out that the Inkwenkwezi Early Childhood Development Centre in Nyanga had been burglarized. Funding from Archewell helped the school replace lost items, such as tables, chairs, mattresses, blankets and books.
In a letter, the foundation’s co-directors James Holt and Shauna Nep explained the throughline that ties the charity’s various projects. “We are committed to a simple but profound mission – to show up and do good,” it read. “Our work, especially this year, has been rooted in fostering community and remaining responsive to those in need amidst the evolving challenges we encounter in today’s world. As we see issues arise, we focus on resolving the root causes and prioritizing lasting solutions.”
Listen to Vanity Fair’s DYNASTY podcast now.
