How we started?
Rice Kids is an initiative run by the Pranakh Foundation. Rice Kids started as a small community effort founded by Anakh Sawhney, who at the time was 9 years old. Anakh was inspired by one of Sikhism’s core principles of selfless service - “Vand Chakhna” (to share what one has with others). It started with convincing the family to participate in food drives and community kitchens, and bringing along friends and neighbors. She then formed new partnerships with shelters, churches, food banks, and community centers, and the work quickly evolved into a community effort, leading to large-scale food drives and cook-offs to deliver hot and nutritious meals. These initiatives were extremely well received and led to much larger projects. Since then, Rice Kids has grown to five states in the US and has expanded operations to India.
Vision
No one sleeps hungry!
Mission
Bring local communities together to serve nutritious hot meals to the hungry.
Why Rice?
Rice feeds more than half of humanity. It is a staple food for many, and frequently relished by the rest. Rice is high in nutrition, easy to cook, and makes for a great hot meal!
Eliminating Hunger + More
Numerous organizations and individuals are doing tremendous work to help eliminate hunger, but how exactly it’s done also makes a big difference. From canned food and preserved meats to cold, unhealthy snacks, there are few organizations that provide balanced and nutritious meals to the underprivileged. Our goal is to serve meals that are hot, nutritious, easy to cook and distribute, and loved by everyone. As we have expanded, we realized that eliminating hunger is not about filling empty stomachs. It is about finding sustainable solutions, which led us to develop partnerships to educate and train individuals so they become self-sufficient and are able to break the cycle of poverty. We are now touching multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals - Hunger, Poverty, Education, Health & Wellbeing, and Decent Work.
How do we make it happen?
Rice Kids works with local and international partners, and engages the community and volunteers to cook hot meals, pack them in containers, and deliver them to beneficiaries either directly or through local distribution centers within hours of cooking the meal. We also run scheduled ‘cook-off’ days to streamline volunteer support and the overall process. We leverage community kitchens to prepare and pack meals for distribution. One of our main objectives is to enable kids to experience first-hand the benefits of sharing and generosity. This can only happen if they grow up in a giving environment. Rice Kids offers activities for families and communities of all ages to come together and serve. We partner with local schools and organizations that share our vision of creating “The Giving Generation”.