Up until last year, OBAT’s mission was centered mainly on helping the stranded Bihari’s eking out a miserable living in camps in Bangladesh since 1972. Since the last seven years, OBAT has been trying to reconstruct and reform their lives by empowering them with education, income earning opportunities and offering them basic amenities of life. Being based in Indianapolis, however, it was hard to overlook the poverty and the issues stemming from it, locally. We knew that while the poverty in Bangladesh assumed a dimension of its own, in Indianapolis too, it was not only an issue but a very pressing one. Most of the board members and all of OBAT’s staff are from Indianapolis, and for most, the ties to the city run deep. While everyone did their share of charity work on an individual level, the consensus was for OBAT as an organization, to participate in the betterment of the city that it called its home.
Hence, Second Helpings. What would be a better choice for OBAT than to support an organization that believed in “transforming lives” just like it did. The mission of Second Helpings is unique and fills a great void in our society. So many organizations out there are doing a wonderful job in trying to make a difference. Rescuing perishable food that would otherwise go to waste and turning it into wholesome meals was something, though, that no one thought of before.
That is just one part of the remarkable work this organization is doing. Providing employment to dozens of people, who would otherwise stay jobless, is the other part. Its culinary training program is another ingenious way in which Second Helpings trains the unemployed to become chefs, some of whom go on to have flourishing careers in the hospitality industry.
To cement the tie OBAT formed with Second Helpings, it hosts an annual race/walk, known as Race4Rehma or Race for compassion. This year’s Race4Rehma was the second time this event took place and met with a lot of success. We hope to be able to continue and increase our support to Second Helpings so that it can continue its great mission of feeding the hungry.
