Tag Archives: Asif Ahmed

Asif Ahmed’s food ATM in Kolkata is set for expansion

Amazing Feats, Community Involvement / Social Issues, FREE : Food, , , , , , , , , ,

Kolkata, WEST BENGAL :

Asif Ahmed and his group of Volunteers of the Kolkata We Care group

A 320-litre refrigerator laden with food – the leftovers from the restaurant and at homes of citizens – placed at a busy crossing of Kolkata is ensuring that the poor and needy do not go hungry in the City of Joy.

Thanks to the initiative launched by Asif Ahmed, co-owner of Sanjha Chulha restaurant, whose concern for food wastage and food insecurity many around him had led to his initiative on the first Food ATM of the city.

The initiative has recently expanded with more civil society groups including the Kolkata We Care group NGO led by Imran Zaki.

“It broke my heart to see good, edible food being discarded at the end of the day, knowing it could nourish someone in need. As a restaurateur, I was often faced with the dilemma of what to do with the surplus food. The idea of redistributing it to the hungry was not just a solution – it was a responsibility,” Asif Ahmed said.

Asif Ahmed’s idea emerged from his concern for thousands around him facing food insecurity. He placed a big refrigerator with a transparent door at the roadside with neatly packed food donated by those visiting the restaurant, the restaurant itself, and the citizens inside. People can pick up the food. The volunteers even distribute food by visiting various vulnerable communities in the city.

The feeding the needy programme has since been relaunched through collaboration among Asif Ahmed’s outlet, the Kolkata We Care group, the Rotary, Round Table, and JITO (The Jain International Trade Organisation).

The initiative feeds almost 50 people daily and Asif plans to involve the Kolkata Police in it.

“The initiative has since become a beacon of hope and plans are underway to involve Kolkata Police to further strengthen its reach and impact in the community,” he said.

 The Food ATM is crafted with care to meet safety standards while overcoming the logistical challenges of food distribution. Like cash in an ATM, food is now available to anyone who needs it, stored in a transparent refrigerator placed in a public space.

Asif Ahmed said, “We wanted to ensure that those who come to the Food ATM feel a sense of dignity. No one should feel ashamed for needing help; everyone deserves respect and compassion.”

The We Care group comprises people from various backgrounds who took charge and came together for the movement. Pilot projects also started in schools like Birla Bharti School in Taratala and BDM High School in Narendrapur which aims to raise awareness through students.

The movement has bloomed well in local organisations and volunteers joined hands in educating donors to inculcate a culture of giving. It has set up one Food ATM at the busy Park street and is planning more.

Sana Ahmed, who works in an NGO, said, “We teachers can instill the right values in children by making them more cautious of food, its usage and recycling. Students’ involvement will deeply impact their growth during formative years and raise a generation when they quickly absorb and value food and the act of giving.

Asif Ahmed says, “The system could be easily replicated and the viability and success inspired further expansion in multiple locations in Kolkata. Although it started at CIT Road but I felt its impact was restricted to that area only. It was later centralized and expanded to serve a broader range of people within a feasible 5 to 10 km radius. We have plans to come up with one in Park Street and the location of another is not decided yet.”

The first Food ATM operates during restaurant hours, from 12 noon till 11:30 PM, with volunteers distributing food in slum areas close by as it is easier to manage.

Asif Ahmed shared a touching story of a lowly paid security guard who struggled with a wage of Rs. 10000- 12,000. He would get his meal from the ATM and it helped him sustain his family and meet ends.

“The Food ATM was a crucial support for him and others like him, making it easier to access meals without compromising their self-respect”, added Ahmed.

Another goosebump scene that Asif remembers is that of a small girl, who approached the Food ATM apprehensively and picked up the food packet before vanishing in the thin air.

Imran Khan, a resident of Park Circus Area, said, “It was a poignant experience to see a child, hungry finding comfort in the food provided. The gratitude and relief in these moments highlight the significant impact of the initiative in bridging the gap for those in need.”

The initial investment includes purchasing freezer units, building secure structures, and installing security measures. The recurring costs involve electricity, regular maintenance, and staffing. Asif Ahmed says he is open to adopting new means and technologies for the initiative.

source: http://www.awazthevoice.in / Awaz, The Voice / Home>Story / by Hena Ahmed, Kolkata / August 13th, 2024

Feeding Kolkata, one hungry mouth at a time

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Travel & Tourism, , , , , ,

Kolkata, WEST BENGAL :

Kolkata :
Four friends sat down to hang out one evening in 2016, a couple of months before Durga Puja. The idea was to discuss a plan that one of them had, to bounce it off among the other three. Fortunately, they were very excited at the idea… and thus started their project to feed Kolkata.
It started as one “ATM” to “ladle” out free food  to the hungry. In a period of just nine months, it’s gone up to three ATMS. And, if things go according to plan, there’ll be two more before Puja this year.Together, the three Food ATMs, as the project is being lovingly called, feed at least 2,000 people each day. The first one came up on the EM Bypass at Uttarpanchanna Gram, the second opposite Ladies Park on CIT Road, and the third one inside Ramleela Maidan off Moulali. The fourth is supposed to come up at Bhowanipore, near Chakraberia, and then a fifth near the 8B bus stand at Jadavpur.

Restaurateur Asif Ahmed and his three entrepreneur friends Prakash Nahata, Rahul Agarwal and Nirmal Bajaj decided to start their endeavour as a sort of experiment by connecting with clubs that organise Puja. With the first letters of their names they formed Pran, a group to fight for a hunger-free Kolkata. Almost every club cooks and feeds bhog on all four days of Puja. “We requested them to cook some extra bhog, so that we could distribute it among pavement-dwellers,” Ahmed says. “We were able to convince 15 clubs, and they gave us immense quantities of food, which we were able to distribute among hungry pavement-dwellers. The gratitude and satisfaction we saw on those poor faces was the incentive that sowed the seeds of the Food ATM project.”

Ahmed first turned his attention towards the food that his restaurant was left with at the end of each day. At his Uttar Panchannagram outlet, he got his workers to cool, pack and refrigerate the food, so that it could be distributed. His friends got a real estate company to donate a specially designed refrigerator, kept outside his restaurant, packed with food. Twice a day, the food was distributed to the needy. “We started on August 15, 2017 to emphasize the freedom factor. What is the value of freedom unless we are able to give freedom from hunger to everyone in the city?” Ahmed says.

Bengali New Year’s Day was celebrated on April 15 a little differently at the Ramleela Maidan. Members of the Entally Yuvak Brinda joined hands with Pran to start the city’s third food ATM. A special room was built beside the park, where the refrigerator is kept stocked with food, water and cold drinks, to be distributed among the homeless twice each day. At least 10 restaurants in the vicinity have been sending their packed excess food to the food ATM. “We just had to visit the restaurant owners and tell them about our intent, and they readily agreed. If the city restaurants stop wasting their leftover food and refrigerate it, we will be able to eradicate hunger completely,” says Jami Siddique, the club’s secretary.

Most restaurants have to throw away the food even after feeding their staff, as they do not have extra refrigeration facilities and also because they cannot serve it to customers the next day. They just needed an organised, hygienic and efficient collection and distribution system, which is why the idea of the food-ATM seemed so appealing to the donors. “Once in a while, restaurants also give away cold drink bottles, which we gratefully accept,” says Sujoy Banerjee, a member of the club’s Food ATM organising committee. Members are now going a step further and approaching households in the area, telling them not to waste food but to pack it up neatly and call a helpline number that the club has set up, so that it can be collected from their doorsteps. “Even one small container of rice and a little dal or dry sabzi, which is what we are able to collect from most households, is enough lunch for a hungry mouth,” Siddique says.

You have to be present at Ramleela Maidan around 1pm or 9pm any given day to see how the distribution is done and to see how happily the recipients — especially the kids — are, leaving with the food packets. “Khub bhalo khabar… we even get pieces of chicken, fish or eggs at times,” says Monua Patra, a 70-year-old woman who comes with her grandchildren for the food every day. “We share the food amongst us. God bless these good men,” she says.

Perhaps the most popular of all the food ATMs is the one opposite Ladies Park on CIT Road. “At this ATM, we are not only getting food from restaurants, but also get excess food and cakes from birthday parties, wedding halls and party organisers,” says Surjya Kanta Haldar, the points person for this ATM.

This ATM is also getting a lot of donations from schoolchildren of Don Bosco Park Circus and Mahadevi Birla Girls HS School, who keep chocolate, juices and cakes on their birthdays. “These happen quite often nowadays and we are able to happily distribute the goodies among the needy kids,” Haldar says.

Both in Bhowanipore and Jadavpur, Pran is in the last stages of discussion about starting the ATMs. The refrigerators come free from the real estate group in accordance with the agreement with Pran. “The real challenge is that the club members need to network with local restaurants and in the neighbourhood to get a steady chain of donors,” Ahmed adds.

At each partner restaurant, efforts are on to educate patrons about the initiative so that after they have eaten what they need, they can ask waiters to pack up the leftovers. Needless to say, the idea has clicked.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Kolkata News> Civic Issues / TNN / May 05th, 2018