A Fridge Full of Food for the Needy 24X7- and its FREE!
Good Samaritan Arafath Ameen has installed a Fridge in front of his Cyber Cafe business which offers Free Food for Poor and Homeless- 24X7
Mangaluru: When was the last time that you got free food from a fridge at a shop or a restaurant- I bet you had to pay for what you picked out from that fridge. But here we have a Good Samaritan by the name Arafath Ameen, who owns a Cyber cafe near KMC Hospital- Dr Ambedkar Circle (Jyothi Circle) has installed a fridge in front of his shop filled with goodies, from snacks, fruits, food packs, water, juices etc- and it’s all free ONLY for the needy who cannot afford one proper meal a day. One Cyber Cafe in City is making a difference for the hungry population of Kudla.
Speaking to Team Mangalorean, Arafath said, ” I was inspired by students who patronize my Cyber cafe for project works on nature and food wastage, so I decided to install a fridge in front of the cafe filled with leftover food to feed the poor and needy, 24X7, 365 days. I had this plan in mind since three years, thinking how one can find a solution to people wasting food which can be utilized for the needy and finally my dream came true on 2 December when I set up this fridge for the use of poor and needy. And I am happy that the response has been great since then”
Arafath put this fridge laden with uneaten food in front of his business to help the needy since he felt compelled to act. Arafath was moved to combat both food waste and hunger after seeing people scavenging waste food from bins. Usually people either keep excess food for next day or it is discarded in dustbin. But there are needy people around who are unable to get a single meal a day. With proper food guidelines and concerned of hygiene, every food item is covered or wrapped. It is learnt that at present Arafath has been spending from his own pocket towards buying food etc.
“If I kept doing nothing then nothing would have happened. Just imagine being in the situation where you should be asleep but you feel too hungry and you have to go out to find food. Sad to note that lots of food is wasted by youngsters these days. I came to a resolution to do something and hit upon the simple idea of installing a fridge and encouraging my customers and general public to put in it whatever they didn’t eat or buy new food and donate.The fridge is left unlocked and unsupervised for 24 hours a day, and anyone who needs food/drinks can utilize it- but CCTV will keep an eye to monitor misuse of this service” adds Arafath.
He further said, “Food I kept on the first day was over by night and I am happy that only needy people have made use of the facility. I have a feeling this initiative of mine will be good of the community. Nothing has happened before because no one wanted to take a risk.You should stand up for the change you wish to see. Nothing has happened yet, but I’ll take it out if I need to. Already many are complimenting my idea and I have so many smiling customers. I can feel the positivity in my shop. If this first initiative works well,I plan to install three more fridges at my other Cyber cafe locations- near KMC Attavara, Bendore-well and Lighthouse Hill Road-Hampankatta.”
The Cyber cafe’s Facebook page has a message to their followers asking them to help stock the fridge with any leftovers they can spare. Arafath believes that not only will the installment be able to feed the homeless community in Kudla, but it will also teach citizens not to waste food or meals. Arafath has a determination as to make his initiative a success, and wants to continue it for the betterment of the less fortunate and the needy community. He plans on installing a double-door fridge soon, so that vegetarian and no-vegetarian food can be socked separately.
Arafath’s kind request for donors is, not to bring in pork, beef items, and also alcohol, and to donate food items well packed and in portions suitable for one person. Donors are also requested not to bring in stale food and dump it in the fridge, since it will be of no use and will go waste. In conclusion, Critics, seeing the idea of this businessman installing an attraction deliberately drawing the homeless to outside his source of income as crazy, initially dismissed the idea. Money is yours but resources belong to society. If you’re wasting your money, it’s your money, but you’re wasting the society’s resources. Don’t waste the resource, don’t waste the food. Stock it up in this FRIDGE!