Post by humansofhindustanofficial

Meet Dr Issa Fathima Jasmine – an orthodontist by profession and a social activist by passion who is on a mission to feed the hungry through her initiative ‘Ayyamittu Unn’ – a community fridge. Issa had developed a keen interest in social service at a young age because of her parents who strongly believed in the power of selfless public service. That sort of upbringing has shaped and inspired her to start a non-profit social organization in 2017. “The Public Foundation was born out of a compulsive craving to help those in need. Its main highlight is the community fridge, AyyamittuUnn, which translates into sharing the food with the needy. It’s a one-stop platform where people can not only donate their surplus food items but also things like clothes, blankets, books, toys, etc. to help those in need of them. When I started it, I never thought it would go on to create such a multifold impact. A few years ago, while visiting one of the centres, I met an old lady collecting food from the community fridge. Upon meeting me, she thanked me and went on to share how it has transformed her life. Before this, she would spend most of her daily wages to manage a day’s meal for her family. With the fridge taking care of their meals now, she could finally utilize the money to provide for her daughter’s education. It is these moments that make you realize how even the smallest gestures of help can truly change a person’s life.” Each centre has a community fridge with a capacity of 400-600 litres to store the donated food. With its help, Issa is able to provide at least 100 meals per centre, feeding almost 1000 people every day. Additionally, she started a community kitchen during the pandemic and distributed around 1000 meals every day in slums, hospitals etc. across Chennai. Issa also conducts several distribution drives throughout the year, both in urban and rural areas of Tamil Nadu. To date, her organization has distributed over Rs 3 crore worth of food, 20,000 kgs of clothes, 2,500 pairs of shoes and 2,500 kgs of books. #humansofhindustan