Chennai: How often have you seen children studying in a government school savouring custard, biriyani, pakodas or laddoos?
And how often do you think orphanages provide such food to inmates? Striving towards filling the stomachs and hearts of young ones are Cafe with Care.
The brainchild of Sumithra Sekar, a non resident Indian (NRI), the team is doing its bit to change the situation at orphanages and government run schools.
Recently, the team visited Ambattur Municipal School, cooked food there and served children mid-day meal that might just be once in a lifetime for them.
In a tete-a-tete with News Today, Sumithra Sekar and her squad open up about their initiative. “Living in Germany for the last 14 years, I always kept an eye out for my motherland. I became an active volunteer during the floods in Chennai and that got me on to do something for the city where I was born,” recalls Sumithra, an IT employee.
Talking about how CafĂ© with Care started, she said, “Social media connected me with a lot of influencers during the 2015 deluge and one of them was Tharanath who runs the Bangalore Seva CafĂ©. Inspired by the idea, I decided to adapt and implement the same concept in 2016 by coordinating with my friends here in Chennai.”
As part of the initiative, the volunteers of CafĂ© With Care visit an orphanage or a government school or a home every month, cook meals and serve the children. The volunteers divide themselves and carry out specific tasks. “If a group is dicing vegetables, there will be another team to engage and entertain the children till we finish cooking,” Sumithra explained.
So how do they select the orphanage? To genuinely identify people who are in need of support, the volunteers scout for places and go for inspection two weeks in advance.
Based on the number of inmates, the financial position of the home, availability of kitchen and other cooking equipment, they shortlist and go ahead with the plan. For more details, contact 8939121732.
| Clean India starts with you |
| Going the extra mile, the volunteers of CafĂ© with Care only handpick organic products. “We know people who work intendent with farmers and we get our orders from them. We do not want to serve food that contains pesticides. For elders, we serve millets as it is very nutritious,” says Vignesh, a 24-year-old volunteer. The team also takes responsibility to properly dispose waste and make it a point to not use plastics. |