‘Udupi Helpline’ to transport excess food from wedding halls to the needy

Udupi, Oct 12: A group of volunteers belonging to different faiths have come together and formed ‘Udupi Helpline,’ with the aim of transporting excess food from wedding halls to the needy.

Led by Mahesh Poojary, a local youth the voluntary organization was inaugurated here on Thursday. “Though our organisation was formally launched today, we have already supplied food from wedding halls to about 2,000 persons in the past few weeks. Rafiq, general secretary, has been transporting food on his two-wheeler,” said Steven Colaco, member.

Mattar Ratnakar Hegde, president, BJP district unit; Janadhan Tonse, president, District Congress Committee; and Yogish Shetty, president, JD(S) district unit, were present at the launch. They lauded the initiative and said it would help in eliminating hunger.

Mr. Hegde said that the organisation would receive information on the food by 2 p.m. By the time it was collected and distributed it would be 3.30 p.m. Hence, the chances of it getting spoilt should be considered. Many orphanages did not accept outside food. Also, maintaining hygiene was of utmost importance, he added.

Mr. Tonse said many institutions for the needy had lunch at 12.30 p.m. This meant the food collected needed to be refrigerated and its quality post-refrigeration needed to be checked.

The organization plans to get a refrigeration unit and a van to transport food with the help of philanthropists.