International report – Robin Hood Army: waging war on hunger with food the rich don’t want – RFI

Issued on: 12/01/2021 - 17:12

The Robin Hood Army is a group of volunteers who collect excess food from restaurants and hotels and distribute it to those in need in India and 14 other countries.Every week volunteers meet in 159 cities across the world to provide food for the poor and needy, collecting and re-distributing the surplus that would otherwise go to waste.

At busy traffic intersections, on sidewalks and slum clusters, thefood collected is served out systematically by volunteers of the Robin Hood Army (RHA) to the less fortunate sections of society.

One in every eight people sleeps hungry each night in India and, given that a lot of food is wasted, we distribute it the poor and destitute, Manish Kumar, a volunteer from the RHA told RFI.

This is our way of showing we care and to make a difference.

The initiative began six years ago when founder Neel Ghose and a few friends fed 150 homeless people in the national capital Delhi. At that time the RHA was just over 2000 volunteers across eight cities.

But soon it moved across international borders and set up a well-oiled network of Robins, as they are popularly called, by establishing chapters to address the hunger problem in their respective areas by distributing food.

It has become a movement and there is huge satisfaction to feed people and bring a smile to their face, Apeeksha Pathak, a volunteer told RFI.

With the Covid crisis, the hunger problem worldwide reached unprecedented proportions. In an effort to mitigate the problem, the RHA came up with a phenomenal initiative. #Mission30M was launched with the idea of serving 30 million meals to those in need.

It turned out to be the largest food relief effort carried out by civil society to fight Covid and its impact on society, Saurbah Das, a volunteer told RFI.

The RHA operates exclusively through volunteers who abide by the golden rule of not accepting or soliciting monetary donations. The RHA streamlines its processes to set up hyperlocal community chapters across the world.

We are not asking for any funds or donations for anything, just hands to help in distributing the food to as many people as possible, adds Das.

Apart from serving food, the RHA has also set up the Robin Hood Academy, a program where Robins teach and enable hundreds of street children to pursue primary education through a structured curriculum.

Today, thenumber of participants stands at more than 58,400 in over 182 cities.

In 2019, India ranked 102 out of 105 countries on the Global Hunger Index, falling behind Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. Things can only improve. The Robins are on the case.

Go here to read the rest:

International report - Robin Hood Army: waging war on hunger with food the rich don't want - RFI