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To serve, with love

Food for thought
Last Updated 15 September 2017, 18:34 IST

Every Sunday afternoon, a group of individuals from the city collect surplus food from restaurants, hotels and wedding venues and redistribute it to rumbling stomachs who otherwise can’t afford a square meal. They are the members of the Robin Hood Army. Their battle is against hunger and wastage of food.

It may easily escape one’s eye, but between fancy
parties, opulent weddings and glossy food photography, an enormous amount of food gets wasted, day after day.

Abhishek Singh, a professional, works as a volunteer with the Robin Hood Army.

“We are not an NGO, just a group of professionals, businessmen and ordinary people who use our spare time to distribute food to the needy. We have no strings attached. We don’t accept money at all,” he says. He explains how the team goes about their work. “People who want to donate excess food, contact us through WhatsApp and Facebook. We collect food from the donors and take it to the pockets in the city where there are slums and impoverished people living. We now have certain hotels and restaurants who donate food to us,” he says.

 R B Shivakumar, a social worker and a resident of Rajajinagar, has been feeding the needy for over 16 years now. “I was inspired by my father who used to distribute around 100 bottles of water at bus stands everyday. I naturally wanted to do something like that to help people. That’s when I decided to collect leftover food at marriages and other functions, and from individuals and give it to the needy.”

“I collect food from wedding and other venues, apart from homes, and distribute it to the poor in railways stations, bus stands, government hospitals, slums, etc. My vehicle goes around collecting food. People are now sending food through Ola and Uber as well,” he says. He approximately feeds over 200 people on a day-to-day basis.’’

Ask him how he ensures that the food collected is edible and he says, “One look at it is enough to understand. Most of the food donated are in really good condition and can be consumed before five hours.”

Abhishek Singh recollects the birth of Robin Hood Army. “One fine day, a group of youngsters went to hotels and restaurants in Delhi, collected excess food and distributed it to the needy.” The Army has now grown and in Bengaluru, they have quite a number of volunteers

“It’s the surplus food that we distribute and not what is unconsumable,” says Abhishek. “Whenever somebody wants to give away surplus food, we collect it and distribute it to the nearest slum. We are even getting calls from paying guest accommodations and hostels,” he says.
There is food shortage and then there is food wastage. The aim is then to connect both and offer solutions.

Says ‘Feeding India’’s Manasi Choubey, “Our effort is to rechannelise excess food to the needy. People who want to contribute call us on our helpline or contact through our website. When it comes to Bengaluru, we send our team in the city to collect food from the particular location. Our volunteers go with their utensils, collect it and distribute it.”

“The most important thing is to do a quality check,” she says.

So when the celebration is over and you are left gaping at the good edible food that is left behind, the answer is out there! “There is a thin line between excess food and food that has gone waste,” says Abhishek. “The motto is “Only whatever I can eat, can I serve.”

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(Published 15 September 2017, 16:27 IST)

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