Food for homeless, food for thought for you!

Food for homeless, food for thought for you!

Many of us, including me, go quickly for the delete button when we receive a forward like this.

Unless, of course, it comes from someone you know to be a reliable source. (For this purpose, I define "reliable" as someone who is not only known to you but is also known to be sceptical and preferably slightly cynical.) In that case, you're prompted to read the forward.

I read it, was touched.

And it brought a satisfied smile, at the very thought that there are still some folks out there who have values that one can cherish, at least when one observes their existence even if one can't emulate fully - for a variety of reasons.

Some website reference and other contact info that a friend managed to locate:

• www.akshayatrust.org
• Postal address: 9, West First Main Street, Doak Nagar Extension, Madurai.
• Phone No - 0452-4353439

Note - I've not checked it personally. Plan to do so some time soon. But my source is credible. Also, I don't know whether the CNN voting period is already over or not.

Do read on.

-----Original Message-----
From:
Sent: Thursday, October 21, 2010 10:44 AM
To:
Subject: VOTE for Good Humanbeing - (He brings hot meals to India's homeless) - Help him to feed more homeless

Dear All,

If you had not heard of Narayanan Krishnan , as I had not, it is a collective failure. This is one of the most incredible stories of personal commitment.

Narayanan Krishnan, all of 29 years old now, does what he was professionally trained to do as a chef. Feed people. Only Krishnan does not do this in the swanky confines of a 5-star hotel. Every day, he wakes up at 4 am, cooks a simple hot meal and then, along with his team, loads it in a van and travels about 200 km feeding the homeless in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.

Krishnan feeds, often with his hands, almost 400 destitute people every day. And for those who need it, he provides a free haircut too.

Watch the story of this hero here ;

According to CNN, eight years ago, this award-winning chef with a five-star hotel chain was all set to go to Switzerland for a high-profile posting. On a visit to a Madurai temple, he came across a homeless, old man eating his own human waste. That stark sight changed Krishnan's life.

Much to the dismay of his parents, CNN says, Krishnan abandoned his career plans and decided to spend his life and his professional training in looking after those who could not care for themselves. He has provided more than 1.2 million hot meals through his nonprofit organization Akshaya Trust, and now hopes to extend this to shelter for the homeless too.

Krishnan is the only Indian in a list of 10 heroes that CNN has picked worldwide to honour . One of them will be chosen CNN Hero of the Year, selected by the public through an online poll. If many Indians get together to vote for this inspiring man, he can win by a long mile.

If Krishnan wins he will get $100,000 in addition to the $25,000 that he gets for being shortlisted for the Top 10. Akshaya Trust needs all the monetary support it can get to build on Krishnan's dream. Let's help him get there.

Vote for Krishnan here. <http://heroes.cnn.com/vote.aspx> The poll continues through November 18 at 6 a.m. ET. ( http://heroes.cnn.com/vote.aspx <http://heroes.cnn.com/vote.aspx> )
 

Regards,

N

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