New age Robin Hoods

A group of young professionals are taking time out of their hectic work schedules to render a crucial service - taking food to the hungry. And are quietly working to plug a critical gap in our social distribution mechanisms

These Robin Hoods distribute food and clothes to the needy but they don’t steal like the legendary folk hero did. They just follow a scientific approach of redistribution of resources, optimal utilisation of available supplies and addressing a critical issue – reduction of colossal waste of food in our cities.

The Robin Hood Army is an organisation that works through volunteers to collect surplus food from restaurants and distributes it among hungry, deprived people. The organisation works in India and Pakistan, with decentralised chapters across the country. Hyderabad has three chapters in Banjara Hills, Madhapur and Secunderabad, with each chapter consisting of about 30 volunteers, all students and young professionals.

So what motivates these people to run around looking for needy people?

“We have done some research and found out that hunger kills more people each year than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined, that one in every eight people sleeps hungry each night and one third of the food produced around the world is never consumed. The amount of food which goes into trash is huge, if waste food/extra food is channelised effectively, many a hungry stomach can be filled. This very thought is enough to motivate us,” says Mohit Singh Arora, a finance professional in charge of the Banjara Hills chapter of RHA.

“We are the modern-day Robin Hoods. We take the excess and give it to the poor. It feels really great to be the channel in between. Hunger leads to many physical and mental health issues when it becomes chronic. It can lead to malnutrition, immense suffering and finally death. If one hour or two hours in the week can help prevent this, then why not?” asks Sphoorti Reddy, a communications professional with Microsoft, and leading the Secunderabad chapter.

RHA has changed my perspective about life. I cherish the genuine blessings that come from unknown people. We generally interact with children and we are amazed at their future plans. The blessings we get from older people as we serve them food when they least expect are something we cherish,” - Uma Chilak

How does RHA operate? “We do a recce once in a while to identify new pockets. Our only policy is to feed as many hungry stomachs as we can. Once or twice a week, we collect surplus food from restaurants. We make sure that people consume whatever is being served to them. We don't encourage storing of the food we serve. We carry our own paper plates and serve food,” explains Uma Chilak, a design professional who is at the helm of the Madhapur chapter.

As of now we get food from Simply South, Fusion 9, Olive Bistro and Mee Ruchi in a regular basis. The restaurants are doing their bit without any expectations. RHA aims to expand their operations bringing more restaurants on board. What does RHA see in future? Considering that the work is entirely voluntary, is it sustainable in the long term?

“We have a few activities which make sure the volunteer momentum and morale are always high. We have RHA Social, Robin of the Month, Visit to Orphanage/Old age home etc. These help us to work as a family,” says Mohit.

“To keep up with the pace and also scale up, we try and induct one new volunteer every week. We do understand that a volunteers commitment maybe anything between 3 months to forever. While the interest levels may dwindle or our commitments may increase, the cause will live on,” adds Sphoorti.

What makes RHA even more special is that the volunteers relish and cherish the work. “RHA has changed my perspective about life. I cherish the genuine blessings that come from unknown people. We generally interact with children and we are amazed at their future plans. The blessings we get from older people when we serve them food when they least expect are something we cherish,” Uma says. “RHA is nothing without the Robins,” quips Sphoorti.

Voluntary work is not just about time and interest. It is about deep commitment and understanding of the cause. And it is about a heart that rejoices in service. As the enthusiastic bunch of volunteers at Robin Hood Army testify.