Despite being a basic need, nutritious, sufficient and safe food is still a distant dream to a vast majority of Indians living below the poverty line. Data from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) indicate that close to 189.2 million Indians – about 14% of the country’s population – are undernourished. This cycle of hunger and poverty is more widespread among rural communities and results in high prevalence of malnutrition and childhood illnesses, oftentimes proving fatal.

We at Connecting Smiles Foundation recognize and acknowledge this situation. We are therefore unwavering in our commitment to inspire hope to those fellow Indians who are pushed to the brink in these tough times. We aim to achieve this through our spectrum of food donation drives and awareness programs.

As an organization, we assess ground realities and address them with a pragmatic approach. Through our donation programs that we extend to communities including orphanages, shelters, hospitals, schools and retirement homes, we supply freshly cooked meals and ration kits. We also identify and serve low-income families that struggle to put food on the table.

Via our wide-ranging training programs to improve employability, we enable our target groups to become self-reliant, enhance their earnings, sustain their agricultural activities and avoid food wastage and loss.

We strongly believe that India has enough resources to sustain the food needs of its population, and we strive to address the lopsided distribution of resources. We also believe that it is equally important to raise awareness about the devastating effects of hunger; we therefore encourage individuals to reach out to those in their immediate circle that might be struggling to make ends meet.

The desire to eradicate hunger lies at the core of everything we do at Connecting Smiles Foundation. And this we set out to achieve with simple yet explicit, unambiguous steps. We distribute cooked meals and ration kits to a multitude of impoverished citizens. Furthermore, we work on upskilling these groups of people so as to improve their employability and agility. Through these direct measures, we aim to somewhat diminish their day-to-day struggle for existence.

In our bid to widen the scope and reach out to greater numbers, we collaborate with like-minded philanthropists including volunteers, non-profit organizations, corporate houses and businesses, religious organizations, and individual donors. To facilitate large donations, we plan and conduct fundraising events where individuals put to use their unique skills to raise money, which they donate to our cause.