As part of her efforts to help those hit by natural calamities, Santacruz-based artist/sculptor Rintu Rathod, popularly known in Mumbai as the creator of the Chocolate Ganesha, has collected 6,500 kg of relief material for residents of the flood-affected villages of Mahad.

Rathod is also the founder of ‘The Food Army’, an NGO whose primary purpose is to reach out to the victims of natural disasters with home-cooked food and essentials. “Whenever there’s some calamity, our Food Army reaches the spot first and distributes dry food stuff among the victims,” said Rathod, who managed to collect 6,500 kg of relief material in just a little over two days. “There was very little time but we managed to execute it with complete precision. Management is our strength. So far we have distributed groceries in the remote tribal villages of Jadavpur, Valan, Karanjkhol, Gandharpale, Baudh Wadi, Kemburli, Sahil Nagar, Dadli gaon, Kolgaon, Wadawli gaon, Rajewadi gaon, Naangarwadi fata, Birwadi, Nane machi and so on. Our work is still on. Now the volunteers are reaching out to people in the upper parts of the mountains with groceries and rebuilding their huts with tarpaulin sheets.”