Guwahati: ‘Sahamarmita’ helps COVID affected families with meals at ₹ 1

Guwahati: In a bid to help COVID-19 affected friends and families, Guwahati-based Saptarshi Banerjee started delivering home-cooked food to reduce their burden of cooking during difficult times.

But what started as a personal initiative in mid-April to help closed ones, turned into a dedicated COVID-19 foodservice initiative called – Sahamarmita. So far, the 28-year-old has managed to deliver 1,500 meals to 60-70 families in distress.

A part-time chef and civil services aspirant, Banerjee now provides nutritious and healthy meals – lunch and dinner – at a nominal price of ₹ 1 to COVID-19 affected families in isolation, patients and even to those families which are struggling with post-COVID recovery.

Talking about his initiative with EastMojo, Banerjee said, “The food that we deliver is just like what you have at home.”

It’s only been 15 days since they started the service full fleged, and they received a great response.

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Being intrigued in the nutritional value of the meals sent out, Banerjee himself does the cooking with the help of two workers. He ensures that each plate contains enough protein, carbs, essential herbs and fibre as required by our body.

Further, his team follows all COVID-19 protocols while preparing, packing and distributing the meals.

The 28-year-old has received donations for his cause from friends, family, Assamese diaspora abroad, and anonymous donors. He has also received help in kind. Through Sahamarmita, he aims to deliver 10,000 meals by June to 200 families.

Currently, each meal including logistics costs him Rs 50, and he needs Rs 5 lakh to make this dream of 10,000 meals turn into a reality. He has started a public fundraise with Milaap.org for Rs 3 lakh, and raise almost Rs 1.5 lakh.

Aspiring to start his cloud kitchen, Banerjee called two workers – one from Nalbari, another from West Bengal. But by the time things took some shape, the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic took the worse turn. Now, these two workers are helping him prepare the meals.

Also, in his effort of ‘Delivering Hope’, Banerjee is delivering 20-40 meal packs to the homeless in Guwahati.

If you wish to donate, please click here.

If you wish to place an order with Sahamarmita, please contact these numbers: 8638833905, 9864274919, 9864750890