Facebook assisting NGOs in their welfare activities
KARACHI: Facebook
widely helping the Non Government Organisation (NGOs) to spread their services
among the needy and underprivileged people.
According to a study, 43 percent of Pakistan’s citizens remain food insecure
and 18 percent face an acute food shortage. This implies that, on any given
day, almost 39 million Pakistanis are unaware of where their next meal will
come from, or if it will come at all. There are reports that over 35 million
tonnes of food is wasted annually in the country, as many go to bed hungry.
There was need to setup organisation to collect food from various restaurants,
hotels, some event managers and donate food to the underprivileged people. One
such project called Rizq was launched by three friends in Lahore in 2015. Rizq
is Pakistan’s first food recovery and distribution service. Currently, Rizq
have two food banks in Lahore and two in Islamabad, with a host of on-ground
partners across Pakistan.
With no resources, funds, or a plan, the three young men did the first thing
they could think of: they created a Facebook Page, posted their phone numbers,
and urged people to call them if they wanted to share food. The initiative was
an unexpected success, going viral overnight; the next day, Huzaifa, Musa and
Qasim were driving around Lahore to collect food from all the people who had
gotten in touch.
Soon after, they also built a comprehensive website to aid people in donating
and getting information about the foundation. The Facebook Page and the website
are also intrinsically linked with the chatbot being Facebook Messenger, so
that all queries are directed to their Facebook inbox for ease of management
and response.
Initially, they started with distributing free food to the needy, but soon
realised they needed a more sustainable solution. After receiving guidance on
how to move forward, they collaborated with Pakistan Development Exchange (PDX)
and now operate under its umbrella, offering 3 main services: excess food
channelization (Rizq Bachao), feeding programmes (Rizq School Lunch and Rizq
Daig), and family support programmes (Rizq Ration).
Newspaper: Business Recorder
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