Local youth leaders in Colombo 03 have jumpstarted a community-wide effort to feed residents who have been deeply affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

Nearly 400,000 daily wage workers are out of income in Colombo and struggling with food insecurity as the pandemic stretches local resources. Nadvi Mohideen, a Royal College alumni and young community leader from Colpetty wanted to do something to help address this issue. With the help of a few friends, he organized a support group to fundraise and assemble vegetable packs for over 300 families in the area.

"I really wanted to help people address their immediate needs, as many were struggling with providing a meal for their families due to their livelihoods being halted during this pandemic," recalled Nadvi.

The small team brought the idea to life in just one week and set to work assembling the vegetable packs for distribution among the families in need. They also provided packs of dry rations to families in Colombo 02 and Wellampitiya areas and hope to provide support to more families in the coming weeks.

Community empowerment is not something that is new to Nadvi, who works on empowering under-privileged youth in his community through a football club, Colpetty United SC, of which he is the President. He organizes free football training, hosts competitions and encourages the youth to actively participate in their community and uplift their lives through sport.