Since the day Rise Against Hunger India started its operations in India (started as Stop Hunger Now India) in 2015,  there has been consistent effort to stay focused on its mission to reach as many vulnerable people as possible by providing food and life-changing aid.  With this single-minded focus, Rise Against Hunger India has touched over 1.5 million lives in 18 states of India in these 5 years.   We just completed our Annual Audit and Review process for the financial year 2019-20 (April 2019 to March 2020).  Given below is a summary of our key accomplishments during the year under various program pillars.

nourishing lives

Our main project under this pillar is provision of food and other safety net programs to individuals and families who need immediate support.  We work with volunteers to package meals & partner with local organizations to deliver meals and other items.  In terms of total meals provided, we distributed over 3.5 million meals, the highest ever in 5 years.

empowering communities (sustainable livelihoods)

Through projects on improved agricultural and livestock management methods, business skills and enhanced market access Rise Against Hunger India enables individuals and families increase their earning potential to have consistent access to food.  Building on our goat-farming initiative of the previous year in Madhya Pradesh which we further strengthened, we scaled up the project to a new location in Maharashtra.  Also, banana and pineapple project in Meghalaya was successfully concluded.  A snapshot is here:

Emergency response

During natural disasters, everyday access to food, wages and market systems are destroyed. In such situations, food is often the most immediate need. This past year, we responded to flooding situations in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bihar and supported villages in Odisha during FANI Cyclone.  Towards the end of year, in March 2020, we initiated COVID-19 relief work.  Here are some key impact figures:

growing the movement

Hunger elimination is not achievable by any one agency. It needs to become a movement, and everyone can play a role in creating a hunger-free world. With this belief, we put volunteering at the center of our activities.  Over 13,000 volunteers mostly corporate employees participated in our fun-filled meal packaging activities.  A new initiative Hunger Education Module was initiated this past year to educate young students through 12 interactive sessions about the situation of hunger and encourage them to be mindful of food issues. Summary of our engagement for the year 2019-20 is given below:Here are few other mentionable achievements during the past year:

• We hosted two mega volunteering events  with 1,500 plus volunteers packaging meals all at one go (in one shift) (the header image is from one such event held in December 2019 in Mumbai)
• Simultaneous multi-city volunteering events hosted across 6 cities (we had earlier done simultaneous events in 2 cities)
• Opening our new warehouse-cum-office in New Delhi (third in the country)
• Augmenting our capacity to engage volunteers in our warehouse in Bangalore (some corporate employees and other community volunteers helped us package meals here)
• Reaching meals and family support kits to the remotest areas with our own transport (Rise Against Hunger India truck)

The current year 2020 has thrown a lot of challenges for many households in their journey out of hunger and poverty.  However, with collective will and support,  we will see them through on the path to recovery. Together, we will be able to make a difference.
If you want to read our full annual report, with programmatic and financial details, it is available here.