More community food pantries serve the needy in Erode

First initiative at Gobichettipalayam spreads across Erode district

May 22, 2021 07:11 am | Updated 07:11 am IST - ERODE

Food packets kept opposite the Taluk Office at Gobichettipalayam in Erode on Friday.

Food packets kept opposite the Taluk Office at Gobichettipalayam in Erode on Friday.

With the concept of community food pantry that was started first in Gobichettipalayam catching up, more such pantries have come up across the district to provide food to thousands of people every day during the lockdown.

To serve the needy and the poor, Clement Premkumar of Gobichettipalayam placed food packets on a push cart in front of the bus stand in Gobichettipalayam from May 6 with a message on a display board “If you feel hungry, take the food, no need (for) money”. Poor people, conservancy workers and other needy picked up the food packets in the afternoon and it served over 300 people a day in the area.

Hence, he started placing food packets on carts opposite Taluk Office and Modachur in Gobichettipalayam serving 400 people a day.

The concept caught on across the district as many volunteers started placing food packets at Nambiyur, Kavindapadi, Sathyamangalam, Bhavani, Perundurai and Chennimalai, serving over 1,000 people every day during the pandemic.

“The idea inspired many and more pantries were started not only in the district, but also across the State”, Mr. Premkumar told The Hindu .

R. Karuppasamy, Director, Rights Education and Development Centre (READ), an NGO based at Sathyamangalam, said they were distributing food packets to over 200 persons every day at the bus stand in Sathyamangalam. “Many are contributing to the noble cause that provides food to the needy”, he said.

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