These hotels show service to poor is service to God, literally

These hotels show service to poor is service to God, literally

A handful of rice saved every day to be donated at a later date to Annapoorneshwari Temple in Horanadu, near Kalasa, has inspired two hoteliers in Dakshina Kannada to offer lunch to the needy during the Covid-19 lockdown.

The routine in Venu Tiffin Centre in Surathkal begins with keeping a bowl of rice aside for the goddess. “The raw rice saved in this manner is usually donated along with some money to the temple during our annual visit,” says proprietor Venugopal Pai.

During the initial days of lockdown, Pai saw migrant labourers and destitutes struggling to get food. Moved by their plight, Pai decided to cook the rice he had stored in the name of the goddess and serve it to the homeless in his canteen. “Initially, we cooked food for about 200 people,” he recollected.

“But soon it was extended to 660 people with the support of associations like Rotary Club,” Pai said.

Another hotelier Hariprasad Shetty too utilised the rice kept aside for the temple to serve hot meals to the destitutes. Every day, rice and sambar are cooked for more than 500 people in the hotel kitchen, which is then packed and distributed to those who are hungry. His hotel, Shri Ganesh, is located in Pandeshwar, Mangaluru.

Impressed by the efforts of the hotel located close by, Pandeshwar Chief Fire Officer Thippeswamy lent a vehicle to transport the food packets from the hotel to Town Hall. He motivated other officers to donate money to the hotelier. Other fire stations in Moodbidri, Bantwal, Beltangady, Sullia and Puttur too donated rice to help Shetty. This helped him reach thousands of people. People have come forward to volunteer in packing and distributing food.

Entrepreneur Sai Giridhar who owns the hotel building says feeding the poor is similar to the act of donating rice to the Goddess. Giridhar supported Shetty by waiving the rent for April and May.

“Many homeless collect food packets from him regularly,” says Anand Naik, a donor.