Bhubaneswar: With an aim to eradicate hunger from across the State, “So AM I Foundation Trust (SAI)” under its Hunger Free Odisha Initiative today signed an MoU with the FICCI FLO Bhubaneswar to take further the noble cause, today at Bhubaneswar Club.
FLO is the women’s wing of Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) with the headquarter in Delhi and 19 chapters pan India representing around 9000 women entrepreneurs across the nation. With over 39 years of experience, FLO has been promoting entrepreneurship and professional excellence among women through workshops, seminars, conferences, training and capacity building programmes etc. FLO Bhubaneswar is the 17th chapter launched on April 2020.
SAI Foundation Trust is a non-profit organization that aims at eradicating hunger from Odisha by 2025 under its Hunger Free Odisha Initiative and has been dedicatedly working towards development of underprivileged since inception.
The organization has set up Food Banks in different locations of the state to feed the underprivileged. Also they introduced mobile food banks in Odisha.
During the Covid pandemic, the Foundation distributed the highest number of cooked food & dry ration to thousands and thousands of needy people across the state. The main objective of SAI Trust is to fight against the hunger and malnutrition through a network food banks and Shradha Arpana Initiative in every district by 2025. This innovative idea of starting 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, SAI Foundation Padmashree Debi Prasanna Pattanayak.
The SAI Foundation, in collaboration with the Commissionerate of Police, had imparted skill trainings to 52 under previllaged women and ensured their livelihood, under the Basti Ku Chala Abhiyan of Commissionerate of Police, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack, in collaboration with FICCI FLO.
Under the SAIRAM Initiative, So Am I Foundation has been serving nutritious & hot meals to almost 500 patients & their attendants at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, daily since 12th December 2022. So Am I Foundation has also been serving nutritious & hot meals to almost 200 patients & their attendants at SCB Medical College, daily since 20th November 2023.
FICCI FLO Chairperson Dr. Pragnya Paramita Mishra and Working Chairperson, SAI Foundation, Sonali Mohanty, signed the MoU in the presence of Founder SAI Foundation Trust Pinaki Mohanty, FICCI FLO Skilling Imitative Head (Rural) Sikha Bansal & FICCI FLO Skilling Imitative Head (Urban) Chitra Gupta. Dr. Chidatmika Khatua, Co-Founder SAI, Trustees of SAI Foundation Vandana Gupta & Aditya Agarwaal & Former FICCI FLO Chairs Sunita Mohanty; Namrita Chahal & Poonam Mohapatra ; Sr. Vice Chair FICCI FLO Vice Chair Biyot Projna Tripathy; Panchami Manoo Ukil ; Members of FICCI FLO; Mamasa Mohapatra; Shrabani Patnaik; Taanvii Hans; Gunjan Saraogi; Ratnamala Swain; Komal Budhraja; Dr Garima Sarawgi; Sheetal Agarwal ;Sweta Kandoi; Aparajita Acharya; Neha Gupta; Anshu Gupta & Shreya Mehra were present there.
Dr. Pragnya Paramita Mishra, 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 3 levels- to promote more women in leadership and board positions, help women set up their own business and skill development & entrepreneurship and to make women more employable. We are extremely glad to partner with the So Am I Foundation for imparting large scale Skilled Trainings & to provide Livelihood to the underprivileged women of the slums under the Project Sampurna Initiative.
Working Chairperson, SAI Foundation, Sonali Mohanty, said, “We have earlier partnered with the FICCI FLO Bhubaneswar for providing nutritious foods to the Covid Patients & their attendants during the Phase-II pandemic. Earlier, we had provided skill training and livelihood support to the underprivileged women in two phases in collaboration of the Commissionerate of Police. Now, we will have skilled training programmes & livelihood supports in large scale with the support of FLO”
