Comprising over 300 citizen volunteers, Khaana Chahiye Foundation was one of the most extensive crisis-management operations in Mumbai during the COVID-19 lockdown. Today, they focus on feeding the needy within the metropolitan city.
Khaana Chahiye Foundation is a non-profit organisation based in Mumbai that combats hunger through relief efforts and advocacy initiatives. It began as a relief operation during the COVID-19 lockdown and has since served over 70,00,000 meals to various communities within the city.
With the pandemic behind us, the organisation’s work now involves feeding the extremely needy and destitute in Mumbai through two community kitchens. Located in Kurla and Ulhasnagar respectively, these kitchens are run by women-led self-help groups, the transgender community, and former victims of human trafficking, among others. Both kitchens are the cornerstone of the foundation’s hunger relief efforts, ensuring efficient provision of healthy meals on a daily basis.
Why Do This?
For The Locavore’s first anniversary in 2023, we wanted to pledge our efforts to #DoingGoodEveryDay by contributing to Khaana Chahiye’s incredible work. Given that their funds were drying up, we set out with the goal to raise enough to support their operations for the near future, at least until they could raise additional funds from donors. Achieving this would have been the best birthday gift we could ask for—and a few months down the line, we’re immensely happy that it indeed was.
The Locavore’s Past Involvement
As the summer of April 2023 set in, The Locavore joined hands with the team at Khaana Chahiye Foundation and raised funds to support their community kitchens. Here’s how it went:
Fundraising
Thanks to your support, we helped Khaana Chahiye Foundation raise a total of rupees 3.8 lakhs in less than a month. Some of these funds were used to feed thousands of wholesome meals to the needy across Mumbai.
Improving Kitchen Facilities
Through the fundraiser, the Khaana Chahiye Foundation team was also able to accomplish several much-needed developments in their community kitchens. These included a fresh paint job, the acquisition of three large storage containers, a water cooler, and an industrial-sized exhaust fan.
These enhancements have significantly enhanced their functioning and efficiency, helping them realise their dream of a Mumbai where no one sleeps hungry.
Testimonial
Their campaigns have helped establish the basic infrastructure required by the all-women-led community kitchens to feed the needy in micro-clusters across Mumbai.
“The Locavore’s association has been key to the establishment of Khaana Chahiye’s community kitchen. Right from the set-up stage during the second lockdown, their campaigns have helped establish the basic infrastructure required by the all-women-led community kitchens to feed the needy in micro-clusters across Mumbai. This involved essential utensils, painting the kitchen, and installing an exhaust fan and a storage unit. The meals are currently shared with 100 kids in Baljeevan, a study centre in Vakola for the children of rag pickers, and around 150 kids near the Kurla community kitchen. Additionally, The Locavore’s support has enabled our community kitchen in Ulhasnagar to share meals with kids from Thakur Vidyalala, an unaided school, as well as with inmates of an old-age home. Besides these clusters, both kitchens share meals with the absolute needy and destitute within their proximity.”
– Swaraj Shetty, Digital and Outreach Lead, Khaana Chahiye
How You Can Make A Difference
To provide emergency assistance across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Khaana Chahiye Foundation’s projections for April 2023–April 2024 suggest that they require 2,000 cooked meals per day, with each wholesome, nutritious meal costing an average of just 30 rupees.
To help the team at Khaana Chahiye Foundation realise their goal of zero hunger in Mumbai, donate here.
If you would like us to feature an organisation from your city, town or village, or if you run one yourself, please reach out to us at connect@thelocavore.in with the subject line ‘Freedom from Hunger’.
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