HOT FOOD IDOMENI
HOT FOOD IDOMENI I’ve been deeply involved in the humanitarian world for over a year now - in five different countries (Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Serbia, USA). It’s been a daunting learning curve founding and becoming overnight CEO of an international NGO/Non Profit Organization One Light Global. I’ve seen lot, learned a lot, made mistakes and fixed them, and observed the disparate ways that myriad organizations work. I look at what their values and priorities are, how closely do they stick to them, how do they treat the people they are serving, their short and long term volunteers, how they manage their core team, different ways of working with or against the government and large NGOs, general management and operations styles, administrative and legal tools and methods, morale, structure, reliability, respect, communication, fundraising, integrity, sustainability, and ability to stay in the game for the long haul. I have learned so much.
Among these groups, Hot Food Idomeni is a shining star. Both at Idomeni in Northern Greece and here in Belgrade, Serbia — I have been overjoyed, sometimes awe-struck, and have gleaned so much from talking with their founder Paul, kitchen manager Barry and watching how they operate on all of these fronts. Their commitment to their mission: serving the highest level of nutritious food to hungry humans (they won’t feed anyone anything they wouldn’t feed to their own mothers and they eat what they make), impeccable hygiene, right attitude and relationships with the refugees they serve, positive and hard working volunteers, structure, organization, values, consistency, and collaboration with the government and large NGOs without sacrificing integrity — impressed me to no end.
Up to date they have served almost 1 million meals: 500,000 hot and 400,000 cold (during Ramadan) in their first year!
We are proud to have provided a month’s worth of food to them and improved kitchen supplies here in Serbia, and yet now they need more help!
It’s hard being consistently on the ground. These people have given up their personal lives, moved away from their home and loved ones and are selflessly and tirelessly serving the people who need it most come rain, snow or shine - without any financial compensation or the usual creature comforts of home. As the weather gets warmer, many, many more refugees will enter Serbia.
They will need more volunteers and more funding - every month. I cannot recommend them enough!
If anyone is interested in volunteering in Serbia - write to them here: Hot Food Idomeni
If you would like to continue donating to providing meals in Serbia - you can donate to HFI directly by clicking here.
If you own or know of a restaurant or cafe or other business that would like to donate a small percentage of monthly sales to this organization - please message HFI or pm me directly.
If you are involved in the music festival circuit or manage shows and venues in Europe or the USA and would like to have them cater your event or can offer them a booth - they are an incredibly experienced team who has years of prior experience in this industry - please message HFI directly or pm me to discuss possibilities.
I support this group 100%, it was an absolute honor to partner with them — and we will continue to support them however we can.
HFI is a rare gem and I hope with all my heart you will check them out and be lucky enough to work with their incredible team. It will be a once in a lifetime experience!
