Meet The Good Samaritans At Bengaluru-Based Byblos Who Feed The City’s Homeless

The population divide in our country is very evident when you look at two major scenarios – on one hand you have severe food wastage, and on the other, extreme malnourishment. Meet the good samaritans at Bengaluru based Lebanese restaurant, Byblos, who have taken it upon themselves to feed hungry homeless people in the city.

The restaurant keeps items such as shawarma, dal-rice, rotis, fresh fruits, and water in a refrigeratior for the homeless to drink and eat for free. In a country that tops the world hunger list according to UN’s State of Food Insecurity World-2015 Report, this is a novel and much-needed concept.

This initiative called the “Fridge of Kindness” is open from noon till the restaurant closes at around midnight. Surplus food from the kitchen and buffet is kept in a fridge outside its outlet for the underprevileged, and the restaurant sees more than 20 underprevileged people picking up food from the fridge on a daily basis.

This initiative is the brain child of Ammar Molki, head chef of the restaurant. Mr Molki, who sails from Syria syas the civil war back home was the reason he started this initiative. Being aware of the situation back home, he understands the pain of hunger and not being able to get any food, and thus, with this initiative he wants to help eradicate that.

Support for the ‘Fridge of Kindness’ Initiative

The initiative has been on for more than a month and chef Molki plans to continue it as long as it is possible. More organisations are now campaigning for similar initiatives to fight hunger. Whether its from customers, or other organistations, and NGOs, this initiatie has received support already. The Rotary Bangalore team extended their support by providing him with the refrigerator. 

Customers who visit the restaurant also seem moved by this initiative. Some of them extend their support by buying food and leaving it inside the frigde, apart from the extra food kept by the restaurant for the underprivileged in the neighbourhood.

“There are so many times where we have a lot of excess food and there’s really no purpose for it, but if we are able to use this for a greater cause, then I think it’s absolutely fantastic. It’s a wonderful idea,” said a customer at the restaurant.