Support the Mumbai Food Project (COVID-19 relief)

The ongoing Coronavirus pandemic has caused massive disruptions and dislocations globally. The situation is, particularly, grim in India, where an emergency lockdown has brought life to a screeching halt for many, especially the migrants, daily wage earners and the poor. Maharashtra is among the worst-hit states by the pandemic, and Mumbai city alone houses several vulnerable families and individuals. While most of us are safely confined to our homes with adequate food supplies, the underprivileged in Mumbai do not have access to even the basic necessities. Every day, we see heart-breaking videos of poor, vulnerable migrant workers stuck in big cities with no money, shelter or food. 

Pratham Mumbai Education Initiative, along with a few individuals - entrepreneurs, corporate leaders and others - has launched the Mumbai Food Project to set up temporary food camps and distribution zones across Mumbai. The food camps are serving pre-packaged meals and grains/essentials kits through a network of supply partners, local volunteers and partner NGOs, while maintaining strict distancing and hygiene protocols.

As the lead NGO for the project, Pratham is conducting the following activities:

·        Sourcing demand from areas throughout Mumbai, with support from the municipal corporation.

·        Lists of those in need have been prepared area-wise and are being updated on an ongoing basis.

·        Local volunteers have been assigned to each locality to support logistics and ensure that those in need are served.

With partners like Swiggy, local kitchens, grain suppliers etc, the team has already set up an infrastructure that can prepare and deliver up to 100,000 meals per day and is in the process of finalising partners to supply grain kits to more than 100,000 people.

The support of the municipal corporation has enabled the team to obtain requisite permissions for movement of all volunteers and vehicles attached to the project amidst the lockdown. 

Currently, plans are in place for the next 15 days - till the end of the lockdown. Further arrangements will be made as the situation evolves. For example, distribution of food may move from pre-cooked meals to dry ration and grains. Similarly, needs and requirements for workers may also change over time.

Leveraging Pratham’s extensive reach through established educational initiatives in under-privileged areas along with the support of our supply partners, we delivered more than 30,000 meals to workers in 12 locations across Mumbai in the first four days since launch. Now, we need your help to ensure that no worker in the city goes hungry.

The funds raised will be used to pay all the partners who are helping the project – food, packaging partners and delivery partners.

Each meal costs approximately Rs. 35 and the cost of providing two meals a day to a needy individual would only be Rs. 70. With a donation of only Rs. 1000, you can feed a person for 15 days!

The goal is to reach about 100,000 people with each person getting 30 nutritious meals over the next 15 days!

Your help will ensure that the underprivileged don’t go to sleep hungry. Even in isolation, we can all stand united!