Tirupathi treat for children

CHENNAI: They feed close to one lakh differently-abled children every month, who are housed in different orphanages and institutions across the city. This time, the Chennai Food Bank authorities are set to give 1,000 mentally challenged children a treat by taking them on a chartered train trip to Tirupathi on Tuesday.Chennai Food Bank, which has served over two crore meals  since its inception, is celebrating 25 years of service and has arranged for this train trip under its project called ‘Apna Bana Lo’ Scheme.Started by business entrepreneurs who are rooted in the principle that Annadhanam for the special children is the highest form of service, started the Chennai Food Bank under the banner of Rajasthan youth Association, Madras Metro Trust.Today, the Chennai Food Bank is one the  most successfully run food banks in the country, supplying 26,000 kgs of grains every month to over 200 orphanages and institutions meant for the differently-abled. The Chennai Food Bank management took inspiration from an Australian Food Bank model. “We first started by sending a box which can hold upto five kg to individual homes and we asked the people to put a handful of grains (rice or wheat) everyday, before these households started cooking. At the end of the month, we collected the boxes, processed and packed them, and supplied them on the said dates to the beneficiaries,” said Anand Surana, co-chairman of the Chennai Food Bank.On Tuesday, a train will be flagged off from Chennai Central at 7 am with about 250 volunteers and 1,000 children aboard. Notably, 100 visually challenged people have enrolled as volunteers. The other 300 volunteers will travel to Tirupathi by car.