Sambalpur: An ATM for food, not money. The concept of installing refrigerators where people can donate leftover food without wasting them and the poor can easily feed themselves free of cost is catching up in Odisha.
A social activist in Sambalpur city has installed a refrigerator in front of the Sadar Hospital from which the needy can have food free of cost, just as easily we withdraw money from ATMs. The noble gesture of establishing such a refrigerator has been extended by social activist Dillip Kumar Panda.
The food inside the refrigerator is reportedly collected from feasts and other events, where surplus food items are sourced and put in this refrigerator. People are also encouraged to donate surplus food instead of throwing them away.
The Sambalpur Municipal Corporation has reportedly provided a shed in front of the hospital for the refrigerator.
Speaking to OTV, Panda said, “Public put their surplus food in the fridge and the poor can take the same free of cost.”
“Food is good and the taste is not bad. I am really happy for this Food ATM,” said one Prashant Sahu, relative of a patient.
A similar initiative -Happy Fridge - has been launched in Bhubaneswar recently where a refrigerator is placed at Station Bazaar for the poor.