Robin Hood Army

“The challenge is not a lack of food — it is making food consistently available to everyone who needs it.”

First some facts- “The amount of food we waste is equivalent of what is consumed by the population of the United Kingdom.

The number of hungry people in India has increased by 65 million more than the population of France. 

In 2013, 20 crore Indians sleep hungry on any given night. About 7 million children died in 2012 because of hunger/malnutrition.

The actual worth of money per year in India from food wastage is estimated at a whopping Rs. 58,000 crore.”  (Source)

This is not the usual introduction that you find in our articles, but the venture we are talking about is also not the usual venture you would find here. I am extremely honoured by this opportunity to write about the “Robin Hood Army”, a volunteer based organization which re-distributes the excess food from restaurants and food joints to the homeless families, orphanages, night shelters and patients in public hospitals. Apurv Mishra one of the core team members of this organization spoke to me about the army, how they function and how you can be a part of this interesting venture.

Neel Ghose one of the founders of Robin Hood Army, came across a similar concept during his stay in Lisbon, Portugal. Neel observed the workings of an organization called “Refood”, which has about 750 volunteers collecting food from various outlets, repacking and distributing them to the people who need it the most. Neel felt that a similar system if implemented in India, would greatly benefit many of the people and would also help in effectively managing food wastage.  Along with Anand Sinha, he founded the Robin Hood Army in August 2014. Today the Robin Hood Army has a core team of five people, Neel Ghose, Anand Sinha, Apurv Mishra, Suvarna Mandal, and Aarushi Batra. This core team is supported by more than 1000 volunteers in almost 18 cities across India and Pakistan.

Before we talk about the impact they are creating, let’s talk about how this organization is teaching us that it’s never too late to embark on our philanthropic missions. As Apurv explains, the Robin Hood Army proves that “now” is a great time. “I have heard people tell me many times that they have always wanted to give back and do something for the society. People assume such activities will require a lot of money, will need them to sacrifice their careers, would need a functional office space with all the associated technology. Robin Hood Army functions without any of the above. All of us in the army have our full-time careers. The organization collects mainly food, and sometimes other essentials, but we never take monetary donations. We do not have an office. Our volunteers coordinate and meet at a decided location and then the distribution process is executed.”

So how does this army work? “Let’s take Delhi as an example. We all meet at 5:00 pm at our decided location. Volunteers pick up the food from the restaurants or food joints that fall in their route to our meeting place. Once we have all the food, depending on the quantity we decide where we should distribute. All the planning happens over phone calls and WhatsApp.  Once we meet the distribution takes about 2 hours.”

Robin Hood Army by now knows areas where there would be a requirement for food like the Government hospitals, areas near flyovers, children and old age homes. They are also extremely particular about the food they receive. “The food has to be healthy, nutritious and safe to eat. We make sure that we are not getting stale leftover food. But to be honest as more and more restaurants are getting to know what we do, this is hardly an issue. They also want to be a part of something like this and hence, ensure quality at their end. In fact, there are restaurants that even prepare meals separately for us to distribute. “

Robin Hood Army is a great example of how social media can be channeled to bring people together for a noble cause. The army is split into various chapters city wise. Chapters heads organize the collection and distribution in their regions. To join this army, you simply have to go to their website and  sign up as a volunteer. If you own a restaurant or a food joint and would like to contribute to this cause, you can register your restaurant on their website as well. In fact, Robin Hood Army is now encouraging collages to form groups and start a chapter in their own college.

In a short time, Robin Hood Army has gotten people to wake up to the issue of food wastage and also the paradox of having excess food on side and people dying of hunger on the other side.Their work has been featured in CNN-IBN, Guardian,  NDTV and numerous other news portals and related websites. As much as they have encouraged people to be a part of this mission, they have also proved that sometimes complex issues can have simple solutions. All we have to do is look around.

The Robin Hood Army today feeds as many as 3 lakh people across two countries. The massive volunteer response that they get from various cities is simply because of the fact that people want to be a part of their mission. Apurv shares how people have reached out to them to even create chapters in their city if they did not find one on the RHA website. Not only volunteers, restaurants are also proudly declaring their association with this Army by pasting green stickers in their facilities.

The impact of this army has gone beyond the food itself. During the recent Chennai floods, Robin Hood Army in Chennai came together to provide relief material for those affected. As winter sets in the Army is also working through the night in cities like Pune and Delhi to provide the homeless with essentials like blankets and warm clothes. The Chennai chapter also had a “Toy Drive” this festive season to spread cheer among children. These are just a few examples of some of the amazing work they are doing.

What does the army think about its journey so far? “We are definitely humbled by the enormous response we have gotten from volunteers and restaurants. But there is a lot more to do. The more volunteers we have, the more people we can reach out to. The Robin Hood Army has built a credible architecture for people to plug into with their ideas. The potential of such a system is huge and we hope to continue to make an impact while encouraging people to follow their philanthropic side.”

In an age of skepticism, The Robin Hood Army reinforces our belief in all things good. The whole organization runs on an element of trust. In fact, the core team has not met all the chapter heads, and yet they manage to work together so efficiently. How does this work? “We believe in the best of human nature!“, comes the immediate response.

If you are inspired by what you are reading and want to contribute make sure you stop by their website and their Facebook Page. If you don’t find a chapter in your city of residence, well then just start one!

As we step into a new year, let us all make minimizing food wastage a personal goal and “Go Green” RHA style.

Wish you a happy new year!

All images courtesy of Robin Hood Army