City Kemp News
Many people die due to hunger and hunger-related diseases every year. Despite there are government schemes and projects to ensure that food reaches the needy, still a lot more needs to be done. The local community can play a pivotal role in this aspect.
On these lines, here a community fridge has been installed in BTM Layout so people can leave food for the needy. Kudos to Public Foundation run by a Chennai based doctor Dr Issa Fathima Jasmine. After successful functioning of community fridge outside the Besant Nagar Tennis Club, Chennai since August 20, this year, the foundation has set its footprints in Bengaluru, BTM Layout where Cotha Life Apartment will be maintaining the Public Fridge.
Food is a precious gift from nature, and people should not waste it. The sole purpose of this initiative is to give this food that is in excess for some, to those who are less fortunate to buy it.
The public fridge will be inaugurated on Nov 26th, 2017 and will be open from 8am to 8pm on all days.
The poor and the needy in BTM Layout and adjoining areas don’t have to worry about scavenging for food anymore. There’s a ready supply of fresh, healthy food available daily, all thanks to community project by name “The Public Fridge”. People and food businesses can leave spare edible food and people who want food can take it.
It’s located at BTM 2nd Stage, Opp road to SMC Kalyana Mantapa (now Xpress Super Market) on 4th Cross, in front of Cotha Life Apartment. It’s a big, glass-doored fridge.
Speaking to City Kemp Dr Issa Fathima Jasmine says “If there’s excess food (Not Unwanted food) in households, which end up in your own fridge, sometimes for days and sometimes goes waste unconsumed. Instead, give it right away to the needy rather than storing for days or wasting in the bin.”
Explaining why she started the project, Dr Jasmine said, “We all have some amount of food left over every day at our homes that get wasted. Initially, I used to give it to a lady sitting outside our home. I soon realised there must be others like her who would be benefited by the food.”
“I often wanted to donate to others but shied away from asking, thinking it might embarrass them. So, to provide a simple and dignified solution where people can come and take food without out being judged or questioned, she started “the fridge”, funding it from her own pocket.
Under the banner of The Public Foundation, Dr Jasmine called the community fridge, ‘Ayyamittu Unn’. In case, you are wondering what it means, it is a one-line poem from the collection Aathichoodi, written by Avvaiyar in Tamil. In English, it translates to “share the food with the needy before you eat”. A beautiful and apt title indeed.
Especially people staying in BTM 2nd stage and those residing in the immediate vicinity, could please do drop excess food, fruits, vegetables or biscuits. One has to make sure that the food is neatly packed and that it is fresh. One also needs to state the preparation date of the food. Then they sign a book to confirm what they are giving away.
“I have always donated clothes. Though I used to donate them periodically for flood camps or to orphanages, I realised this would be a great way to merge the two things,” she said.
Alongside the fridge, one would also find a shelf, where people can donate anything from books to clothes, but they all should be in usable condition. You can place any usable item that is no more used by you. Could be your dresses, shoes, bags, toys, pens, books etc.
The Fridge is open from 8am to 8pm.
The Public Fridge is located at 40, Cotha Life, 3rd Main, 4th Cross, BTM 2nd Stage, Dollars Layout, Bangalore 560076.
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There are a few rules for the fridge
It does not accept raw meat, raw fish, raw eggs, opened milk or other packaged food, half eaten food, any food previously frozen, alcohol, rotten fruits and vegetables, food past its expiry date, any cooked food not from a registered businesses; and only registered food traders can donate produce that is prepared or cooked afresh.
Other residents can only leave food that is still in packaging, or fresh entirely uneaten produce. Labels are provided at the fridge so that you can mark the food packages with date and time and expiry date. The fridge is not manned but is overseen and routinely checked, and food no longer fit for consumption is binned at the end of the day. If there is any uncertainty about the safety of an item in the fridge it will be removed during the regular checks.
Foods that accepted are sealed water bottles, juices, dry snacks, biscuits, tinned and canned food, baked items, packaged food with use by date, cooked food from registered food businesses, home cooked food, fresh fruits and vegetables.
