A local NGO has been awarded a major US grant for its remarkable initiative to avoid food wastage
A local NGO has been awarded a major US grant for its remarkable initiative to avoid food wastage
It all started when Padmanaban Gopalan, who was a student of GCT Coimbatore, started a campaign during his college days to help educate children on the importance of not wasting food. During one such seminar, a little girl told him his advice was sound — “but often, like at weddings, people serve me more food than I can eat — what do I do with the excess?”
That one question set the wheels into motion — all the way to his brainchild, No Food Waste winning a $1,000 grant from the US-based NGO Pollination Project, after competition from entries across the world — catapulting Padmanaban to global fame.
“My goal was to collect excess food from hotels, parties, events, weddings and so on all over the city and distribute them to the hungry. For six months, I relied only on public transportation. But then, during convocation, I met some old friends and explained my idea. This convinced M. Sudhakar and M. Dinesh to come on board!” says Padmanaban.
The trio soon set about turning their dreams into reality, based on the three As —Awardit (a portmanteau of award and audit, he says, that they use to motivate school kids to waste less food and be recognised for the same), annadanam that is the donation of food, and third, alternate resources.
He explains, “There is a strategy in place. Quality checks and routes are well mapped out, so as to get to the source of food in time and distribute them quickly. We take care to store the food we receive late at night, ensure it’s in good condition when we give it out in the morning. Our helpline is always active, and we have a modified car that can carry food for 400 people!”
Having mapped out the main ‘hunger spots’ around town, the trio and their volunteers are located strategically near each zone that has slums, shelter homes, and orphanages. “We’d been doing this for around a year, when we heard of the California-based Pollination Project that was issuing its 1000th grant to help worthy projects. Usually, the winner is selected directly, but this time, the decision was upto public voting! We were among the four finalists, and ended up bagging the grant,” Padmanaban recalls.
Next up, they are hosting a Zero Hunger Hour on the occasion of World Food Day (October 16), where the team will ask volunteers to encourage people across the country to help someone hungry from 12.30 pm to 1.30 pm. “We are also launching a mobile app that shall point the ‘hunger zones’ closest to you, so people can take the initiative themselves to dole out any excess food they have. Another venture of ours is the SPICE (Society Promoting Innovation, Creativity & Entrepreneurship) Foundation, where we are trying going in for low-cost alternative model of education for school kids,” says social entrepreneur.
Singling out three of his volunteers Dharnesh, Kavin and Shyam for their efforts, Padmanaban concludes, “We have fed more than 13,000 people. Unlike other NGOs that want to keep growing, our real success will be when we shut down and there’s not a single hungry mouth!”
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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