"Together we shall overcome this.”
Celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor has launched an initiative to provide free meals to healthcare workers across seven Indian cities in the wake of the country’s Covid-19 second wave.
Since April 2021, India has been reporting hundreds of thousands of cases each day.
Hospitals are overwhelmed while medical provisions are in short supply.
As a result, healthcare workers have been working overtime to help patients.
Several Indian celebrities have offered their support and this includes Sanjeev Kapoor.
Sanjeev has joined forces with chef José Andrés of the World Central Kitchen, and Taj Hotels to provide free meals.
These meals will be sent to healthcare staff at various hospitals spread across seven major cities across India.
Currently, the team has been working to deliver more than 10,000 free meals to frontline workers in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Gurugram, Kolkata, Goa and Hyderabad.
Sanjeev plans to increase to nine cities.
The initiative initially started in Mumbai in 2020.
But in 2021, as India’s Covid-19 situation worsened, Sanjeev enlisted the help of José Andrés as he wanted to expand to other cities.
He said: “José Andrés is a friend and when I told him we want to extend the meals to other cities, he brought in WCK.”
Sanjeev explained that the menu has been designed to provide staff with the relevant nutrients in order to maintain their energy and fight the pandemic.
He added: “Let us all also do our part and stay home and wear a mask properly if we must absolutely step out.
“Together we shall overcome this.”
This is not the first that Sanjeev Kapoor has offered his support to healthcare workers.
During India’s lockdown in 2020, his team arranged meals for doctors and medical staff at Kasturba, KEM and Sion Hospital in Mumbai.
He was also looking to find a way to keep his staff motivated during the difficult period.
Sanjeev explained:
“Chefs I spoke to were more than willing to help.”
The initiative started with 250 meals per day at Kasturba Gandhi Hospital, serving roti, rice, dal, vegetables, fruits, juice and a sweet.
He continued: “As word spread, we started getting calls from other smaller hospitals to provide food for their staff.
“Soon, we were providing healthy and balanced meals to most of the hospital, for free.”
Sanjeev stated that the hotels and their team of chefs were grateful to be a part of the initiative as it made them feel helpful.
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