The idea emerged during a family discussion where Shanaya and Aditya, inspired by their schools' emphasis on Tikkun Olam—“repairing the world”—brainstormed ways to give back to the community
Published Apr 25, 2025 | 7:00 AM ⚊ Updated Apr 25, 2025 | 7:00 AM
Zero Hunger: Two young cousins raise 10,000 meals to fight hunger
Synopsis: In Bengaluru, 9-year-old Shanaya Goyal and her 6-year-old cousin Aditya Shanbhag raised funds to serve 10,000 meals to the underprivileged in just one month. Inspired by family values and school teachings of “Tikkun Olam,” the duo partnered with Rise Against Hunger India. Their project, Zero Hunger, reflects a deep commitment to compassion, community service, and fighting food insecurity
Zero Hunger is a heartfelt project led by 9-year-old Shanaya Goyal and her 6-year-old cousin Aditya Shanbhag, in Bengaluru. Together, they achieved an impressive milestone by raising funds to provide 10,000 meals to the underprivileged over the course of just one month.
“The school encourages students to do good in the world and I think that has also been one of the centric pillars of what we think as a family. When she (Shanaya) asked what can I do about it, that’s when we started bouncing ideas and froze on this,” said Supriya Jain, Aditya’s mother.
The idea was born during a family discussion where Shanaya and Aditya, along with their maasi and parents, brainstormed ways to contribute to the community. Their schools encouraged the practice of Tikkun Olam – a Hebrew phrase meaning “repairing the world” which is a core concept in Judaism, rooted in giving back and making a positive impact.
Packing of meals along with 49 enthusiastic volunteers
The children received immense support from their parents and found a strong platform in Rise Against Hunger India, an organization that envisions a world without hunger. The organization operates on four key pillars: nourishing lives, empowering communities, responding to emergencies, and growing the movement. They offer three kinds of packaging events – corporate (paid events by companies), community (volunteer-based), and in-house (to reach their annual goals).
The family was already familiar with the platform, having organised a similar event back in 2014. At that time, instead of hosting a charity event at the restaurant they own, they chose to support a larger cause. Rise Against Hunger had just launched in India, and the family reached out to them. With Shanaya and Aditya’s project, they again chose Rise Against Hunger as they believed
Shanaya Goyal with Sagar Potalkar, Senior Programme Executive of Rise Against Hunger
it to be the only charity operating at such scale. “We didn’t want to just take a hundred meals to an orphanage and forget about it.
Whereas Rise Against Hunger is a very organised process where the meals are in the form of raw packets which consist of dal, rice, dehydrated vegetables and vitamin sachets, and they pack it so it has a longer shelf life and they distribute it to areas where that meal is needed the most.” The structured and impactful approach of the organization deeply resonated with the family.
The packing event took place on 13th April at Nambiar Bellezea, Bangalore, where around 49 volunteers joined in to make a difference. Rise Against Hunger brought bags filled with rice, dal, dehydrated vegetables, and vitamin sachets. Their setup included specific stations: a filling station, weighing station, sealing station, and boxing station.
Volunteers distributed roles and worked together in perfect coordination. Sagar Potalkar, Senior Programme Executive of Rise Against Hunger, congratulated the children and expressed his gratitude. “Usually the corporates pack 10,000 meals, and although it was not a criteria for them to complete 10,000 meals, they (Shanaya and Aditya) devoted their time and effort, going to each house and achieving the goal. It is also inspiring for us how community events are making a target line crossing 10,000. Usually, we would complete 2000 to 5000,” he said.
Shanaya Goyal and Aditya Shanbhag at the packing event
Shanaya and Aditya shared that their overall experience was very positive. They made posters, wrote scripts for their door-to-door visits, and put in a lot of effort toward the cause.
“If you want to enable children to do this kind of thing you have to give them a platform to do it. I sometimes feel like we are so stuck in the academia of children growing up that we forget to give them space to do anything else. If we give children more space they can come up with amazing stuff and make a real difference and for that I think parents need to self-reflect.” said Supriya Jain, Aditya’s mother.
This story is a powerful reminder that age is no barrier to impact – and with the right support, even the youngest voices can lead meaningful change.
(Edited by Ananya Rao)
