An Indian-origin chef in Australia has been tirelessly working to deliver free food to the homeless and the needy, ever since the coronavirus pandemic broke out in January, PTI reported.

Melbourne-based chef Daman Shrivastav, who grew up in Delhi and worked in the Middle East in the 1990s, prepares meals at home and distributes it to the homeless in his car.

“I used to cook 150 meals a day in my home kitchen with my wife and daughter when the pandemic broke,” Shrivastav told PTI.

He is also feeding international students, many of whom are finding it hard to sustain in an alien country in this time of crisis.

Shrivastav said food is everyone’s right and everybody should have access to food and times like these remind him of his own sufferings.

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“I have seen poverty. I have been homeless in Australia for a couple of days during my early days here. The feeling, which I had experienced that time, prompted me to take this initiative to reach out to the needy people,” he said.

However, this isn’t the first time for Srivastav to lead such a noble cause.

While he was working in the Middle East and the Gulf War (1990-1991) broke out, he fed hundreds of people for free in Baghdad.

“This pandemic may not be like the Gulf War, but the stories of people trapped inside and scared to go out remain the same. The situation is more or less same as people have lost jobs and thousands of livelihoods have been affected,” he told PTI.

With the information about his initiative now spreading fast through media and word-of-mouth, Shrivastav said he is getting a lot of support from the locals who want to join the cause.

“There is a lot of support out there coming on board with me and I have been receiving calls from people who want to participate in this initiative. In fact, a local council here has offered us their community kitchen to prepare meals, given the kind of space it needs,” he said.

Shrivastav has also set up an online page to raise funds for a food truck to deliver free meals.

“I have so far raised A$13,000 in the last four weeks. We are aiming to collect A$70,000 for the food truck,” he said.

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At present, Shrivastav has a dedicated team of six volunteers. Many locals also donate groceries on weekly basis.

Shrivastav said he would continue the initiative even after the pandemic is over.