Friday, February 17, 2012

Need to Launch "Winning Food"

It was a sight that broke my heart.........

We were on the top floor of Defence Y Block Pizza Hut today afternoon, when my eyes got fixated at a sweet-looking girl. She was probably Hajrah's age, clad in a pink colored outfit. She stood next to the garbage tank while her mother rummaged through the smelly contents to find something useful.

I started thinking, what could this duo possibly get out of this commercial garbage bin? And then it hit me. Food!!!

Could you believe it? This is Defence Housing Authority--one of the upscale residential projects in Lahore. And not very far from where the girl's mother had her hands planted deep into the waste, maybe just 30 feeds on either side, were parked fancy cars like the Civics, the Mercedes and the Land Cruisers of the elites that lived in Defence. They bought fancy clothes from the Bareeze's, the Urban Cultures, the Stone Age shops; bought grocery from the Al-Fateh Departmental Store and spent ten of thousands while this family had to search for their meal.....in a garbage bin!

Shame on us Pakistanis! Especially the well-to-do ones for thinking that our issues at work, our petty quarrels at home, and other problems in our lives are so grave that we can't even thank Allah for what we actually do have. It probably doesn't hit many of us that we too have a responsibility, not just of our families, but of those that are actually forced to search for a meal in the garbage bins.

Many of you would argue that it is difficult to discern the genuine needy ones from the fake ones. Well you have a point, and while you are busy pondering and arguing over that, what I am planning to do is to launch Winning Foods--a charity where we will go out with our 10 rupee note, our 100, 1000 or more and collect whatever we can, and do whatever we can to help some of the needy people to eat.

I am certain Allah would help me and you, if you choose to contribute. As a first step, we will create a bank account that we can collect funds in. People can just transfer or deposit in this account and we can distribute it by buying food. Or we could gather food that is generally discarded in the restaurants or at home. And then give it all ti the one(s) in need. In short, we will do something. InshaAllah!

The question is, will YOU? If the answer is yes, let me know and we shall work our way through this. Frankly, I don't where this road would lead to.....I just hope it would take us to Heaven one day.