Many of you might be well aware of the famous Robinhood Army, a zero-funds volunteer organization that works to get surplus food from restaurants and communities to serve the less fortunate.
The army's “Robins” are largely students and young working professionals who participate in this community service in their free time serving the lesser fortunate sections of society including homeless families, orphanages, patients from public hospitals and old age homes.
Robinhood Army's mission is simple: To serve the hungry citizen!!
While we are a zero-waste organization since we ONLY bake fresh-to-order and don't carry any surplus food / inventory, it still made sense to partner with Robinhood army to identify the right area / community to donate the muffins that we freshly baked specially for the sake of donation.
Once we were ready with our bakes, one of the Robins from the Gurgaon chapter suggested that we donate our yum goodies to kids at Village Ghata since it was very close to where our cloud kitchen bakery is located. We were assigned to one of the volunteers who met us at the entrance of Ghata and guided us to the very interiors of the village where all the slums were located.
Once we reached there, the Robinhood volunteer went deep inside the slum area announcing our arrival and asking people, specially kids to come and get some fresh and yummy muffins to eat. Before we could blink an eye, a long line started to queue up with kids, with mothers holding small babies all waiting to get their share of the muffins we had brought for them.
As each child carefully collected and took a bite of their muffin, the smiles on their faces were unforgettable. The joy in their eyes unmissable! While many had come before us with food donations in that area, the Robinhood volunteer told us that it was mostly basics like daal and roti. The muffins, on the other hand, ended up being an absolute special treat for them. As someone who lives and breathes cake all day long due to my profession, it was really heartening to see how much cheer and happiness these small little muffins had the power to bring to an entire community. We kept distributing box after box of muffins -- all of which were baked with the finest quality ingredients, the exact same we make for our customers -- but somehow it never seemed enough as the line kept getting longer and longer of those who wanted more. And while we distributed a LOT, unfortunately, there were still folks left in the queue who we could not get to. :( I wish we knew the large numbers in which people would show up. For now, the only thing we could do was to promise to come back with a much bigger batch the next time around.
That night, back at home, was a tough one for me personally. Seeing kids in their real habitat vs. a protected NGO shelter was a surreal experience and it really hit home as to how blessed we all are. As a pregnant woman in her last trimester, it further made me reflect on the life of privilege in which my baby was soon going to be born into. Would he/she understand the value of everything materialistic he/she will own or get to enjoy? What are the things that I will need to do as a mother to ensure he/she stays grounded to reality? While only time will tell how I manage to parent my child to not take things for granted, one thing was clear. He/she will need to accompany me to every such field trip and learn to share with the wider community starting from a young age.
A famous celebrity once said, "At the end of the day, it's not about what you have or what you have accomplished. It's about who you have lifted up, who you have made better. It's about what you have given back."
Beyond the importance of accomplishments, I hope I get to teach my child the importance of giving back. What are you teaching your kids about giving back?
If you would like to join our cause and donate some special treats on your / your child's birthday to an underdeveloped community of Delhi NCR, please reach out to us at 9810804856.