Bhubaneswar: With an aim to eradicate hunger from across the state, “So Am I” (SAI), a foundation under its Hunger-Free Odisha Initiative signed an MoU with the FICCI FLO Bhubaneswar on Saturday to take the noble cause further.
FLO is the women’s wing of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) with its headquarters in Delhi and 19 chapters pan India representing around 9,000 women entrepreneurs across the country. With over 39 years of experience, FLO has been promoting entrepreneurship and professional excellence among women through workshops, seminars, conferences, training, capacity-building programmes, etc.
FLO Bhubaneswar, the 17th chapter, was launched in April 2020.
SAI Foundation Trust is a non-profit organisation that aims at eradicating hunger from Odisha by 2025 under its Hunger-Free Odisha Initiative and has been dedicatedly working towards the development of the underprivileged since its inception. The organisation has set up Food Banks in different locations of the state to feed the underprivileged. They have introduced mobile food banks in Odisha. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the foundation distributed the highest number of cooked food and dry ration to thousands of needy people across the state.
The main objective of SAI Trust is to fight against hunger and malnutrition through a network of food banks and the Shradha Arpana Initiative in every district by 2025. This innovative idea of starting a food bank is a dream project of Pinaki Mohanty, the founder of So Am I, and supported by Dr. Chidatmika Khatua, a well-known social activist, under the guidance of the chairman, of SAI Foundation, Padmashree Debi Prasanna Pattanayak. The SAI Foundation, in collaboration with the Commissionerate of Police, had imparted skill training to 52 underprivileged women and ensured their livelihood, under the ‘Basti Ku Chala Abhiyan’ of Commissionerate of Police, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack.
FICCI FLO chairperson Poonam Mohapatra and founder of SAI Foundation Trust Pinaki Mohanty signed the MoU in the presence of Dr. Chidatmika Khatua, Co-Founder SAI, Sonali Mohanty, Secretary, FICCI FLO; trustees of SAI Foundation Vandana Gupta and Arvind Agarwal and members of FICCI FLO Dr. Pragnya Paramita Mishra; Sucheta Mohanty; Mamasa Mohapatra; Lipsa Hans; Suman Jena and Tanvi Hans.
Poonam Mohapatra, chairperson, FICCI FLO Bhubaneswar, said “FLO aims to encourage and facilitate women to be empowered and bring them to the mainstream based on skills, experiences, and energies across industry sectors for an inclusive economic growth trajectory. It works with women at three levels- to promote more women in leadership and board positions, help women set up their own business and skill development and entrepreneurship, and to make women more employable.”
“We are extremely glad to partner with the So Am I Foundation for imparting large-scale skill training and to provide livelihood support to the underprivileged women of the slums under the Basti Ku Chala Initiative of the Commissionerate o0f Police, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack, on this auspicious day of AkshayaTritiya”
PinakiMohanty, founder of the So Am I Foundation said, “We have earlier partnered with the FICCI FLO Bhubaneswar for providing nutritious foods to the Covid-19 patients and their attendants during the phase-II pandemic. Earlier, we had provided skill training and livelihood support to underprivileged women in two phases in collaboration with the Commissionerate of Police. Now, we will have skilled training programmes and livelihood support on a large scale with the support of FLO.”
