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Now, A Community Fridge in The Capital For The Destitute





Now, A Community Fridge in The Capital For The Destitute

Bhubaneswar, October 16: Bhubaneswar got its first community fridge on Sunday when a group of good Samaritans came together to install ‘Annapurna’ at Sainik Square to feed the destitute and needy. The refrigerator will store food collected from restaurants/ hotels and donated by people as well. The needy can take food free of cost anytime from the fridge while anyone can come forward to donate food to ‘Annapurna’. 

The noble concept has been initiated by members of Bhubaneswar Knights Round Table (BKRT), Bhubaneswar Queens Ladies Circle (BQLC) and Michael’s Kitchen.

With food waste being a global concern, it was in 2016 that a restaurant owner in Kochi installed a community fridge for the first time and named it “NanmaMaram” or “Tree of Goodness”. Since then, the concept has been implemented in many cities across the country, including Chennai, Mumbai, Goa and Gurugram.

Sharing about the initiative, chairperson of BQLC, Anuradha Agarwal said, “Lots of food gets wasted and we don’t want anyone to sleep hungry. The idea behind the community fridge is that people in the neighbouring areas can donate excess food and those who are in need of a meal can get easy access to it. The food will be available in packets with date of packing mentioned there. Vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods will be packed separately,” she said.

Records of the contributors will be maintained regularly by the members.  Informing about this, BKRT chairman Gaurav Chawla said, “A record of regular contributors will be maintained, so that during shortage, we can request them for additional food.

Chef Michael, owner of Michael’s Kitchen and partner of the concept said, “Many a times, it happens that food ordered by people gets wasted, so we at our restaurant are motivating people to donate food for the needy. Customers at our restaurant liked the concept so much that they themselves pack food and put it inside the fridge.”

All the collected food will undergo a quality check before being provided to the people. “Food collected from various places will go through a quality check before being packed as we don’t want people to get sick. Volunteers have been assigned to check the hygiene of the food stored in the community fridge.The fridge will remain open from 9 am to 11 pm during that time anyone can put or take food from it,” informed Michael.

They are now planning to install four more community fridges at Patia, Saheed Nagar, Old Town and Bhubaneswar Railway Station. “We have identified four other places where we are planning to install the fridge. Railway station would be one of the best places as many destitute and needy people reside in nearby areas,” he said.

Author: Monalisa patsani

Being into journalism since 2012, Monalisa loves listening to people and narrate their stories. She has been exploring different genres of journalism, but writing about the environment, places and people suits her interest.

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