As the country celebrates 71 years of Independence, a team of young professionals and other citizens plan to make it special by taking to the streets to feed the hungry.
#Mission1Million – which the Robin Hood Army calls its ‘largest war against hunger' - aims to bring together the private sector and civil society to feed one million hungry people this Independence Day in both India and Pakistan.
The idea behind this unprecedented project is to raise awareness on the national hunger problem (more than 200 million hungry) and to mobilise help for the needy, irrespective of nationality, faith and religion. More than 10,000 'Robins' will manage field operations across 41 cities on both sides of the border.
"As the youth of our nation, it is imperative that we take the onus, stop blaming the state for everything, and use our skills and collective network to make a real difference,” said Aarushi Batra, co-founder of the Robin Hood Army.
#Mission1Million aims to collect and facilitate a million meals that will go to orphanages, old-age homes, to the homeless and even to patients in hospitals. In return, they expect a million happy faces with innocent smiles.
Rohin Hood Army (RHA) is a team of volunteers who collect surplus food, which otherwise goes waste, from restaurants and distributes it to the poor and homeless. In the last three years, this passionate team of individuals from different walks of life have served food to 2.1 million people across 41 cities.
"There's so much food that goes to waste in restaurants, and we are guilty of the same in our own houses. That's when we decided we'll take surplus food from restaurants and give it to those who need it the most," added Batra.
Says Akshay Mahajan, a member of the Delhi Chapter of RHA, "India ends up wasting 40% of the total food cooked. So, clearly food is not the problem here, access is. With the Robin Hood Army, we bring together people from different walks of life with a mission to defeat a systemic problem like hunger."
Unlike many other organisations, the RHA does not take donations or funds and works only through partnerships and volunteers.
"Today, all our success is completely dedicated to the love from the Indian community. Tying up with Robin Hood Army gave us an opportunity to give a little something to the community and be associated with this noble cause." says Manu Jain, Managing Director of Xiaomi India which has come on board as a national partner and will be providing meals for 500,000 citizens across India.
During previous I-Day celebrations, RHA undertook two campaigns - Mission100K in 2015 and Mission500K in 2016 - and the response was massive. They shot past their target, as volunteers from all parts of the nation contributed to the initiative.
That's the public response they are banking on this time as well. To feed a million hungry mouths and more.
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