‘Millions of Meals’ reaches 13m people

Islamabad : Since March, the ‘Millions of Meals’ campaign has covered 90% districts in Pakistan with a 100% coverage in Baluchistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu Kashmir and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the programme is still on striving to benefit as many communities as possible. ‘Millions of Meals’ is an inclusive, nationwide disaster relief programme making millions of meals available to the communities most impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.

PepsiCo has also partnered with the Prime Minister’s Ehsaas Programme to ensure access to the most vulnerable communities in urgent need of nutrition. At the heart of the programme are the nine on-ground partners and a network of over 600 volunteers working at the grass root level across Pakistan.

These include; RIZQ and Association for Gender Awareness & Human Empowerment in Punjab, People’s Primary Health Initiative in Balochistan, The Orange Tree Foundation, Network of Organisations Working for People with Disabilities Pakistan and Layton Rahmatullah Benevolent Trust in Sindh, National Rural Support Programme in AJK and Al-Khidmat in KP.

In an ode to the ‘Millions of Meals’ partners, volunteers and the countless men and women at the front line of the pandemic, brand Pepsi has released a heart touching song ‘Mujhe Bhoolnay Na Dena’. Veteran singer Sajjad Ali and Aima Baig have lent their soulful vocals to the moving lyrics.

With the second wave of COVID on the horizon, it is a lesson of resilience and community that we must take forward in the coming months. As economic activity decelerated during the COVID-19 epidemic and an increasing number of people were faced with loss of income and earning opportunities. In these circumstances, the need for providing meals to underprivileged communities became the foremost requirement.

While commenting on the initiative of PepsiCo, Omer Mateen Allahwala, CEO Orange Tree Foundation said that ‘We thank PepsiCo for paying special attention to the most underserved communities. Especially the fishermen communities in Babba and Bhit Islands, transgender communities and religious minorities in Karachi as these are often overlooked in the time of crisis’. Speaking about the programme Furqan Ahmed Syed, CEO PepsiCo Pakistan and Afghanistan commented, ‘The ‘Millions of Meals’ is a mission rooted in our ‘With Purpose’ philosophy, which means that we pledge to support the well-being of communities that we operate in.