Mumbai Based Mother-Son Duo Use Delivery Kitchen To Feed The Poor, Raise Over Rs 3 Lakh For Charity

During the ongoing pandemic, many of us have the privilege to stay home, cook and post pictures of scrumptious-looking cuisines online, but there are thousands who are forced to spend their days in the hope of two square meals.

Facebook/Harsh Thali And Parathas - Mom Makes, Son Sells

In a bid to help these people, a Mumbai-based mother-son duo have turned their humble delivery kitchen into a service that feeds thousands of needy. Harsh Mandavia has been posting regular updates of their philanthropic efforts on their Facebook page, Harsh Thali And Parathas - Mom Makes, Son Sells. The initiative started in the first week of May when one of their regular customers, Abhinav Chaudhry, wished to feed 100 poor people who could not earn daily wages due to the lockdown. .

'We were fortunate enough to prepare and execute this activity for him where 550-600 people are fed daily by a wonderful bunch of selfless Sevaks like Mr. Nilesh Shah and others', Harsh wrote on Facebook back in May.

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In an interview with Times of India, Harsh shared that to he found a place outside a Gurudwara in Malad, to carry out the first round of the food service for 100 poor people. The meals, he says, consist of roti, sabzi, dal and rice.

'It all began when I put up an appreciation post on my social media regarding the first food donation activity. People started donating money online all over India. In the first two days, we received Rs 11,000 and then we started feeding the needy on a daily basis', Harsh told the TOI.

Since the beginning of the initiative, they have managed to collect over Rs 3 lakh in charitable donations from across the country, to keep their food drive running smoothly. Till date, they have fed over 5,000 meals and served more than 13,000 tawa rotis (made of whole wheat atta) keeping nutrition in mind.

"Due to increased risk of #covid19 in Mumbai especially, we have stopped feeding the needy people at the venue like we used to do earlier, rather we have started to give them food in their tiffins and dabbas. . . While distributing the Sabzi, it was really saddening to hear one person saying ¡°thoda zyaada sabzi dedijiye, ghar pe bachon ko (kids) bhi khilana hai, unko bahar nai la sakte, risk hojayega unki jaan pe,¡± Harsh shared on Facebook.

Keeping the pandemic in mind, Heena Mandavia assures that their team is personally involved in the food preparation, packaging and distribution to the needy, and proper precautions are taken every single day. They plan to continue with the food drive till the end of July.

For Harsh and his mother Heena Mandavia, letting no one go hungry is of utmost importance - it does not matter who the person or where they come from, if they are looking for food, they will be given everything to their heart's fill.

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