KFC India has launched ‘add HOPE’, a programme to fight hunger in the country. KFC’s add HOPE aims to create awareness and raise funds to provide meals to India’s underprivileged children through United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP), Akshaya Patra Foundation and India FoodBanking Network (IFBN). Together with these organisations, KFC aims to provide 20 million meals to underprivileged children by 2020.
The programme was launched by Rahul Shinde, managing director, KFC India, who presented ₹ two crore to UNWFP and Akshaya Patra Foundation.
Commenting on the launch, Shinde said, “We are a food company and it’s our privilege and responsibility to address the issue of hunger where millions of children go days without a proper meal. One in four children in India is malnourished and consequently, facing greater obstacles to reaching their fullest potential. Through add HOPE, we want the children of our country to be given access to nutritious and balanced meals in order to grow and learn, so they can be their best selves.”
Consumers can feed a hungry child by adding ₹ five to their bill, each time they visit a KFC store. KFC employees in the 300+ restaurants around the country will also support local communities. Shinde flagged off the KFC add HOPE truck that will travel across the country distributing food grains at IFBN feeding sites.
Dr Hameed Nuru, representative and country director, UNWFP India, added, “WFP’s collaboration with the KFC add HOPE aims to highlight and drive action in the movement towards ending world hunger. A valued and collaborative partnership, it has been critical in addressing the challenges in India and also highlights the significant contribution that the private sector is making towards food and nutritional security through CSR. The WFP global and India family wishes to acknowledge and appreciate the contributions being made by this partnership, and sees it growing stronger and reaching out to more and more children with every passing year.”
Sundeep Talwar, CMO, Akshaya Patra Foundation, said, “As an organisation, we strive to fight issues like hunger and malnutrition in India. Our partnership in the past has garnered critical support for deserving children and we believe add HOPE programme will further help address the hunger challenge successfully.”
Vandana Singh, CEO, Food Security Foundation India, India Food Banking Network, commented, “Our mission to provide food to India’s underprivileged echoes with KFC’s add HOPE initiative. We share a common vision for eliminating hunger, and are confident that this partnership will contribute to sustain the food banking movement in India.”