It was an unusual sight in Chennai. Some people were installing a fridge in front of Basant Nagar Tennis club. Passers-by were amazed. Some stopped too. Something interesting was happening that invoked curiosity in every one. Though, nobody dared to come close.
There was a fridge in the open, full of eatables and nobody was taking anything. This troubled Dr. Issa Fathima, mind behind the project. She says, “For lot of people the acceptance came very late. People who wanted to donate found it OK but people who wanted to take the food always had a sense of fear. Should I come near the fridge to take this or should I not. They event thought that it was for Marathon runners because it had energy drinks and water bottles.”
So Fathima had to place a security person to tell the people that it is for you needy; that those who are hungry can open the fridge, take whatever they like without asking anybody.
Community fridge, since then, has become famous in Chennai, a city in the south of India. This fridge has been placed by Dr. Issa Fathima to serve the needy. She explains, “We had a lot of waste food in our own household every day. The food wastage is not very heavy but there is enough extra food for one or two persons. I did not know where to give it. I used to travel down 20-30 minutes driving all through my residential area trying to find a person who is needy. Ultimately I will end up bringing the same food back to my home because sometimes there is no needy around you or if I think that that person is needy and gives the food to him, he would probably say that he did not need the food. So I thought of bridging that gap and have a public fridge so that the person who wants to donate the food can keep the food and the person who wants to take the food can take the food without any questions being asked. ”
And now the fridge is so popular that it gets empty as soon as it is filled in the morning. “Some people come from as far as 10 Kilometers away to get food,” says fathima, “Those who are living on the platform. Some passersby. A lot of people have been using it. Construction workers. Painters. They say that they get only Rs. 150 per day and out of that they cannot spend 50-60 on food. And this way they find it very convenient to take the food from the fridge and are able to save some money.”
Free food for the poor is not the objective though. Dr. Issa Fathima explains, “Yes I did think that am I making people lazy. End of the day we are not asking people to make food and donate. We are only asking people to whatever you think you cooked extra, instead of throwing it away, come and donate it. We are also avoiding the major problem called food wastage. The whole idea is not only to feed the needy but also solving the problem which is food wastage.”
Now Fathima wants to wait and watch for the results before deciding to install more such fridges in other areas as she says, “I would want to ensure that this goes smoothly and people have understood what it is. And then if I find more volunteers I would definitely like to start in other places as well.”
