KARACHI: It has been seven years since the Robin Hood Army (RHA) here started its food drives, distributing packets of leftover or surplus eatables from restaurants, hotels, manufacturers, packaging companies etc among the needy of the city.

This time, for a change, some of the people they have been helping decided to do something for them instead.

The Sahara Public Rights Welfare Organisation turned the tables on the RHA by inviting their team of always helpful volunteers to celebrate their seventh anniversary with them at the Sahara Vocational Training Cen­tre located in Gizri the other day.

For once the Robins, dressed usually in their signature leaf green, were seen in normal casual clothes looking quite relaxed as this time someone else was offering them the hospitality. The place was decorated with multicolour balloons. There was happy music and lots of jumping around and dancing by special persons and the differently-abled people on catchy folk songs to entertain the guests.

On a table in the middle awaited three yummy cakes with green icing ready to be cut by the guests of honour. One cake represented the seven years of friendship between the hosts and the RHA, one for spreading the love for seven years and the dark green cake just with the RHA logo. There was cheers all around as Robin Sameer Beg, who heads the army, cut the cakes with Sahara Welfare’s president Akbar Ali Rana and RHA volunteers.

“Not just here, the RHA has been frequenting all our centres, in Ibrahim Hyderi, in Sindhi Muslim Cooperative Housing Society, at Korangi Creek, etc, with nicely wrapped food packages including sweet offerings and beverages. They bring smiles to the faces of all these special people. Now it is our turn to cheer them up,” Akbar Ali Rana of Sahara Welfare told Dawn.

“When we received the invitation from Sahara, we weren’t really sure what to expect. But it feels wonderful to be appreciated and remembered like this,” said Robin Sameer.

The RHA is a worldwide movement, which has over the years spread to more than 30 countries and over 145 cities all over the world. These angels in green have declared a war against hunger. Here in Pakistan, they are the hands that have served food to millions of people of poor localities and slums, orphanages, old people’s homes, shelter homes, hospitals, etc, over the last seven years. They try to be present at the time of any crisis such as floods, fire or earthquakes and in doing so they make sure to stop food wastage.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2022