Mumbai Residents Setup A Community Fridge For The Needy

In an attempt to eradicate hunger from the city of Mumbai, an organisation based in Andheri and a restaurant have collaborated and set up a 200-litre community fridge reports Mid-Day. The restaurant, Anna Punjabi is where the refrigerator has been installed can be used by the residents to deposit food.

Food For Thought

Nilay Jain, chairman, MMRT 200, a Mumbai-based table told Mid-Day, “A community fridge or food bank is a refrigerator where the extra food can be stored, and then taken by those who need it.” He also added that restaurant will add in food the day residents weren’t able to. “While anyone living in the vicinity can deposit food in the bank, the restaurant itself will put a lot of food every day. In fact, that’s why partnering with a restaurant was very important. They are going to help us in maintaining it on a day-to-day basis.”

Round Table India (RTI), the organisation responsible for bringing the effort together, will also be sending volunteers to check up on the working of the community fridge, Jain told Mid-Day. Rs.40,000 has been spent on the fridge and the enclosure around it. Word is to be spread by the RTI members within various communities so that the effort realises effective results.

Jain had also told the publication that he’s not sure of the number of beneficiaries and realises that the similar efforts prior to this one were not all that successful.  “We don’t know the exact number yet. This is our pilot installation and we want to keep a close watch on the numbers for the future planning. Any community activity needs to be done on a sustained basis. Also, with RTI we have a large network young people available across India. So if we want to scale up any worthy idea, we have great national team available for us.”