Combating coronavirus: Four restaurants in Dubai team up to supply free meals to the needy

Four popular Pakistani restaurants in Dubai have teamed up to provide meals for the needy in the wake of Covid-19. The initiative called Rizq - Centre for Hope was launched under the slogan "no one sleeps hungry".

After receiving a number of calls from people affected directly or indirectly by the Covid-19 situation, such as those on visit visas or people who lost their jobs or did not receive salaries, friends and owners of four restaurants - Bhaijaans Biryani, Delhi Nihari, Delicacy Bakers & Sweets and Mumtaz Darbar - teamed up to provide free meals to people in need.

Omar Farooq, Talha Ahmed Khan, Syed Zaid and Basid Siddiquie were joined by their friend Nasir Bangash, who is helping them spread the word and promote the cause on social media.

Elaborating on the concept of Rizq (means food in Urdu), Bhaijaans Biryani owner Omar Farooq said: "We may survive for the next few months, but what about the families who are on daily wages or those people who have lost their jobs. This thought gave birth to a collaborative idea. We decided to pledge our efforts to give back to the community and country that has helped us in becoming what we are today. Our objective here is to help feed at least one daily meal to the affected families and individuals in the country, so that they would no longer sleep hungry. As restaurateurs, we take this as our duty to make sure we play our parts and help in sustaining the lives of others."

Delhi Nihari owner Talha Ahmed Khan, whose restaurant has branches in Dubai, Ajman and Sharjah, said the initiative has already received 600 orders from people in need in just two days and to meet the demand, the restaurant owners are personally delivering the meal packs.

"We have a set menu for each day that includes chicken curry, egg curry, biryani, mixed vegetables and dal fry along with naan that is sent out to individuals and families in different sizes depending on the number of people in the family or room. We are going personally to meet these needy people and are delivering their orders on their door steps. We ensure that we do not reveal pictures or details of the people who avail of these meals as we understand the sensitivity of the matter," Khan told Khaleej Times.

Seeking more support from the community, Khan said: "The best way to reach out to people would be if more restaurants collaborate with us so that we can swiftly deliver to people across different areas and save time and effort. We need to pool in our resources and get more restaurants on board.

"We are glad we are getting an opportunity to serve our people in these trying times and we will do our best. However, we are looking for community support from people and sponsors who can pitch in and have a share in this initiative. They can add their products, such as juices, water or anything. We are also looking for sponsorship from home delivery companies who can help us deliver these orders to people quickly across the emirates," said Nasir Bangash.

saman@khaleejtimes.com