An estimated 2 million migrant workers and daily wage earners in Chennai have abruptly lost their ability to earn a livelihood due to the lockdown in India. As the lockdown extends into August, all their resources have been exhausted and they do not have any means to feed themselves and their families.
The “Feed Chennai” initiative
We started in early April, and are a coalition of NGOs and volunteers providing food and essential groceries to Migrant Workers, Daily Wage Earners and the Homeless.
The “Chennai Migrant Taskforce"
This initiative was started in mid-May, in response to the exodus of migrant workers from Tamil Nadu and the significant language barrier faced by this community. We have an expanding group of Hindi-speaking volunteers on the phone and on the ground focused on two objectives:
- Identifying, feeding and moving "stranded migrant workers" to government shelters
- Identifying and supporting "out of work migrant workers" with essential groceries
- We have served over 1,00,000 hot and healthy meals, hygienically prepared in some of the best kitchens in Chennai
- We have delivered over 4,200 essential grocery kits that have helped those with kitchen cook an additional 1,00,000+ meals
- We have supported over 10,000 migrant workers
For as little as Rs.2,500 (a typical restaurant bill in normal times), you can help feed 100 people with a meal!
Let's make the best use of this wonderful opportunity for us to join hands to help fight hunger and transform lives!