The ECO Kitchen is a non-profit social entrepreneurship program that facilitates training and job opportunities in food retail. The Kitchen strives to serve the immediate nutritional needs of its community, as well as alleviate greater issues of illness, stigma, and poverty. Our vision is that our meals will not only nourish bodies, but empower minds to become more confident, capable, and proud.
"Kathir" is an innovative micro-entrepreneurship opportunity for disadvantaged women and their families to realize their socioeconomic potential.
"Out of the Box" offers customized meal options as well as samplers of heritage meals and snacks made from organic millets.CONTACT US
The ECO Kitchen offers delicious, vegetarian meals of outstanding value through Kathir, as well as premium personalized catering through Out of the Box (OOB). More than just a tantalizing treat, every ECO Kitchen meal helps to improve the lives of underserved families in Chennai.
Eco Kitchen, Unit of YRGCARE Foundation
8/2, Harischandra III Cross St
Injambakkam, Chennai 600041
Tel: 044 3040 2222
Mob: +91 98400 79001 (Ganesh), +91 98843 07150 (Sethu)
Email: info@ecokitchen.org
The aim of Project ECO (Enhancing Community Opportunities) is to empower disadvantaged individuals with sustainable livelihood improvement. However, we recognize that many of their communities require more immediate help to alleviate hunger and malnutrition.
Kathir Dhan meets this need with your support.
Kathir Dhan meets this need with your support.
Malnutrition in Chennai
In Chennai, women and children from poor households are often anemic, with significant implications on school performance and health during pregnancy. Protein, vitamin, and calorie deficiencies are common,
hindering growth and diminishing the potential to break the cycle of poverty.
hindering growth and diminishing the potential to break the cycle of poverty.
How Kathir Dhan can help?
The scale of the ECO Kitchen makes it possible to create a large volume of meals, keeping costs low and making the most of your contribution. All donated meals are designed to deliver sufficient quantity and nutrition.
We know who needs the meal
Through the ECO Kitchen and other YRG Foundation initiatives, we know communities that could most benefit from food donations. Kathir Dhan provides a bridge between people in need and those who wish to help.
What we can provide
What we can provide
In each meal, we can offer one or more of the following:
Sambar Rice, Curd Rice, Sundal, Ven Pongal, Sarkarai Pongal, Idlis
We have the capacity to deliver up to 10,000 meals per donation. You can be assured that meals we prepare adhere to very high standards of hygiene and quality, and that the production will have a minimal impact on the environment.
About the ECO Kitchen
The ECO Kitchen is an ecologically-conscious 18,000-square-foot cooking facility that operates YRG CARE’s Kathir program.. This initiative provides employment opportunities to women who are either victims of domestic violence or stigmatizing diseases. The program provides carts, business and hygiene training, and a microfinance scheme to establish these women as food vendors in local communities. The low-cost, nutritious meals they sell help provide the women with income, as well as promote food security.
Donate today
All donations should be drawn in favor of the YR Gaitonade Medical, Educational, and Research Foundation and will be eligible as a tax deduction under Section 80 (G).
If you have a specific date and time in mind, and wish to honour a loved one, we will schedule the donation as you advise. You can also have your donation pooled with contributions from other donors. We will do our utmost to respect the wishes of the donor and the dignity of the beneficiaries.
As a donor to Kathir Dhan, you will receive a complete report of how your support was used as well as learn in advance the location should you wish to make a visit during food distribution.
We welcome donations of any size. No contribution is too small - every rupee can feed someone somewhere in Chennai. Kathir Dhan exists to make every precious rupee count.
KATHIR
YRG has long recognized the link between poverty and domestic unrest. When providing for even basic needs becomes a struggle, physical, psychological, and societal pressures can become unbearable. This frustration often leads to the abuse of family members. In traditional Indian households, where men are usually the primary income earners, women are most often the target of that violence.
Realizing the social and economic potential that meaningful employment could bring to underprivileged women,YRG CARE began to experiment with different social entrepreneurship opportunities. The first widely successful program was the PI project, in which women were given training to stitch cloth bags. Proceeds from the sales of the PI bags went to both the women and toward medical expenses for HIV/AIDS patients at YRG CARE’s hospital. The financial independence that these women gained also imparted them with a sense of empowerment; with the ability to contribute to household needs and finances, they were able to elevate their status in their own eyes and those of their families.
Using the same premise, the idea of using food retail as another livelihood improvement project came into being. In addition to building business skills and generating income, a kitchen would also be able to address another critical issue of the poor: inexpensive, consistent access to healthy food. ECO Kitchen’s community meals program, called Kathir (meaning “first yield of rice from the paddy”), sells food to women at a low price, which they in turn sell in partner communities for a reduced cost. Meals have been designed with the nutritional needs of the labor class in mind, while respecting the need for a meal that appeals to a South Indian palate.
Currently, Kathir has trained over 40 women to become entrepreneurs, and provides over 1500 meals per day to their vending points in south Chennai. The program is looking to greatly expand the number of women it can employ and the number of communities that it can serve. To this end, the project has been posted on Global Giving, to receive donations to support the creation of 100 more vending points and offer opportunities to as many women. Candidates are being selected and trained presently.
OUT OF THE BOX
As the Kathir kitchen focuses on providing meals to vendors at a low cost, it was recognized that a supplementary source of funding would be needed to sustain and expand the non-profit program. As a result, the ECO Kitchen decided to establish a second food retail programme at the same Injambakkam facility. Called “Out of the Box,” this programme delivers unique meals that are personally designed to suit a customer’s needs.
Out of the Box menus have been carefully planned by our chief chef and nutritionist, and provide a healthy balance of all-vegetarian proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and micronutrients. Menu items include:
- Traditional South Indian meals
- Dhals
- Subjis
- Curries
- Chinese dishes
- Continental fare
- Salads
- Soups
- Sandwiches
- Kids’ menus
All of our standard menus can also be further customized to suit individual tastes or dietary needs, including:
- Diabetics
- Health-conscious consumers
- Weight loss
- Lactating mothers
- Immuno-suppressed patients
- Geriatrics
Meals can also prepared with organic ingredients and spices upon request.
As our kitchen capacities grow, we also look forward to providing supplemental nutritional powders and a variety of curds for individual or bulk purchase.
We believe that our Out of the Box kitchen is a unique opportunity for customers to take care of their health, as well as contribute to a healthier community.
CONTACT US
The ECO Kitchen offers delicious, vegetarian meals of outstanding value through Kathir, as well as premium personalized catering through Out of the Box (OOB). More than just a tantalizing treat, every ECO Kitchen meal helps to improve the lives of underserved families in Chennai.
Eco Kitchen, Unit of YRGCARE Foundation
8/2, Harischandra III Cross St
Injambakkam, Chennai 600041
Tel: 044 3040 2222
Mob: +91 98400 79001 (Ganesh), +91 98843 07150 (Sethu)
Email: info@ecokitchen.org
8/2, Harischandra III Cross St
Injambakkam, Chennai 600041
Tel: 044 3040 2222
Mob: +91 98400 79001 (Ganesh), +91 98843 07150 (Sethu)
Email: info@ecokitchen.org
ABOUT ME
I am an intern in ECO kitchen
Contact :9500831798, sameer@ecokitchen.org
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