Bhubaneswar:Coca-Cola and CARE India are going to provide dry-ration kits with meticulously curated food items to meet specific nutritional needs of various marginalized groups such as migrant workers, daily wage earnersand people living with HIV/AIDS across various parts of the country.
The three-month long programme aims to benefit over 1.5 lakh people starting from this month. This initiative is a part of Coca-Cola’s commitment of INR 100 crores towards various COVID-19 relief programmes meant to benefit and positively impact over 10 lakh lives across the country.
As a part of the initiative, Coca-Cola and CARE India with support from OSACS (Odisha State Aids Control Society) has commenced a dry ration distribution programme in Odisha. The employees of Coca-Cola and CARE India participated in the community service drive. The programme is meant to servedry ration kits with essentials to more than 3200 households.
The programme will be rolled out across Delhi & NCR, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal and Bihar to distribute dry ration amongst people with meagre resources and affected by food crises. The ration kits include many essentials including wheat flour, rice, pulse, cooking oil, spices, sugar, salt, soy chunks, poha, peanuts, protein powder, milk powder and soap bars. Due consideration has been given to meet nutritional requirements of women and girls, and especially vulnerable groups such as people living with HIV/AIDS to help them deal better with these challenging times. Coca- Cola and CARE India acknowledge that people in distress also need to be treated respectfully and are committed to following safe and respectful distribution practices.
Commenting on the initiative, Vice-president, Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia Ishteyaque Amjad said, “We are privileged to collaborate with our partner CARE India in providing food and essential item support to the most vulnerable communities. We hope that our joint efforts help assuage the state of the most vulnerable people of our society and that through our collective efforts as a country, we will be able to steer ourselves out of these testing times.”
Regional Programme Director, CARE India Shantamay Chartered said, “The desperation and poverty that ensued from COVID 19 spread has affected millions of lives. Coca-Cola Foundation has supported those who were severely affected, especially returnee migrants, rural and semi-urban wage workers and small vendors in the districts of Odisha to cope with the stress and build resilience.”
