“You heard of food for thought. Now, it is time for action and a better future for our poor,” read the first lines of Sneha Mohandoss’s tweet from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Twitter handle on Sunday morning.
The 27-year-old resident of Chennai, who founded Foodbank India, was among women from across the country who took over the Prime Minister’s social media profiles as part of the #SheInspiresUs campaign to mark the International Women’s Day.
Founded in 2015, Foodbank India is an NGO which works towards eradicating hunger among the homeless. They organise mass cooking and food donation drives and urge people to donate excess food at events, such as weddings, to ensure that there is no wastage.
“I’ve always believed that social media has been an extremely powerful tool to reach out to the public and was honoured to be given the opportunity to speak to people across the country through the Prime Minister’s profile. My main intent is to spread awareness about hunger and food wastage,” she said.
Hunger mapping
In a tweet from the Prime Minister’s profile, she said, “I urge everyone to feed at least one needy person and contribute to a hunger-free planet.”
Speaking about Foodbank India’s work in Chennai, Ms. Sneha said that they had a team of over 100 volunteers. “We have familiarised ourselves with the city through ‘hunger mapping’. Our volunteers pick up food from anyone who wishes to donate and then distribute it to the homeless,” she said.
Among their recent initiatives was urging the public to donate a protein pack, comprising chickpeas, which would be handed over to a home for children affected with HIV.
In the last few years, she said the awareness about food wastage had risen greatly. “During wedding season, we get up to 50 calls a day from wedding halls, where families ask us to pick up excess food and distribute it,” she added.