Bengaluru: The world-famous ISKCON, known for its charitable and altruistic work worldwide has been providing free meals to the covid affected families since the pandemic broke out. 

There is an interesting anecdote relating to the founder of the organisation Sri Prabhupada. In 1975, he saw two children fighting with dogs for food, which made him decide that no one should go hungry in a radius of 10 kilometres of an ISKCON temple. 

Last year alone, the organisation distributed 5 lakh free meals to the affected families. 

Prabhu Pradyumna, president, ISKCON Dwarka and head of the temple’s Food for Life initiative, says, “The operations from our centralised kitchen at Dwarka started almost 15 days ago. We are delivering lunch and dinner in Dwarka and Delhi,” as quoted by The Indian Express. 

“You just have to call on our helpline number, and the food will be delivered at your doorstep. And today (Tuesday), we dispatched 647 meals to 289 families. Of these, 70 per cent meals are being delivered at homes, and the rest is given to the needy on roads or those who come to the temple,” adds monk Padasevan. 

How it works: 

A total of four teams – three people for taking requests, about 10-12 to prepare the meals, a team for packaging and another for delivery – ensure the lunch is ready by 10:00am and delivered by 2:00pm, the website adds. 

“As of now, we are able to deliver only one meal because of minimal delivery resources. But we would love to do two meals a day in the coming days,” adds Padasevan. The Dwarka kitchen distributes 14,000-15,000 meals a day. 

It is in this way that the organisation is rendering yeoman service to the society during the time of pandemic.