Gurugram, 5 September 2017: Smile Foundation and Celebrity Chef Vikas Khanna join hands for the seventh edition of “Cook for a Smile” – an exciting and unique charity cookout. Eight top boardroom leaders join this initiative to battle it out over a cook-off with the sole mission to support Smile Foundation’s ‘Nutrition for Education’ campaign.

Funds raised through the campaign will be utilized in providing education and nutrition to almost 1000 children from Mission Education program of Smile Foundation. Malnutrition among children is one of the major problems of our country. To mitigate this problem, Smile Foundation’s nutrition programme has been providing, over many years, both direct nutrition interventions and a broad range of “nutrition sensitive” interventions addressing the determinants of malnutrition.

Each corporate leader is joined by the Sous Chef from Smile Foundation at the event, presented by addHOPE, KFC’s anti-hunger initiative that aims to feed 20 million children by 2020, in association with Quaker Feed A Child which is also a committed initiative with Smile Foundation towards providing 2 lacs meals . This event was ably supported by hospitality partner Crowne Plaza Today, Gurugram and media partner CNN News 18.

Mr. Praveen Reddy, COO, KFC India; Mr. Oliver Mirza, Managing Director and CEO, Dr. Oetkar India Pvt. Ltd; Mr. Amit Mehta, Managing Director, McCormick Kohinoor Speciality Foods India Pvt. Ltd.; Mr. Rajat Jain, Founder, Pad Up Ventures; Mr. Pankaj Bhardwaj, Senior Director & General Manager – South Asia, Avery Dennison; Mr. Abhinav Singh, Director – Sales & Marketing, Crowne Plaza Today, Gurugram; Mr. Fernando Bustamante, CEO, Mahou India and Mr. Deepak Mittal, Managing Director, Sonalika International Tractors Ltd have participated in the event.

Speaking at the event Chef Vikas Khanna, Goodwill Ambassador – Nutrition for Education, Smile Foundation, said, “Lack of proper nutrition is a fundamental issue and one of the biggest roadblocks in the growth and development of children in our country. I have been working with Smile Foundation for the last so many years and we have been able to address nutrition needs of underprivileged children through various fund raisers and advocacy programs. I request each and every individual to come forward and do their bit towards eradicating mal nutrition .”

“One in every three malnourished children in the world is from India. The consequences are long-term and it prevents children’s overall growth, learning ability and a chance to come out of the vicious cycle of poverty for yet another generation. Thereby it also prevents the country’s growth. In order to bring some real and permanent changes in the lives of the most deserving children across India, we have brought together corporate leaders and trendsetters under our ‘Cook for a Smile’ initiative with celebrated Chef Vikas Khanna,” says Mr. Santanu Mishra, Co-Founder and Executive Trustee, Smile Foundation.

Talking about KFC’s on-going effort to fight hunger in the country, through addHOPE, and partnering with this event, Rahul Shinde, Managing Director, KFC India said, “Hunger is one of the major challenges faced by our country and we strongly believe that each one of us must come together to ensure that underprivileged children have access to nutritious and balanced meals. Through our ongoing addHOPE campaign, we are tackling a complex problem, by raising awareness and funds for the cause. This partnership with Smile is another step in the same direction and we hope to make a positive difference to the life of these children.”

About Smile Foundation :

Smile Foundation is a national level development organization benefitting over 400,000 underprivileged children, their families and the community directly through 250 welfare projects on subjects such as education, healthcare, livelihood, and women empowerment across 25 states of India. Adopting a life cycle approach of development, Smile Foundation focuses its interventions on children, their families and the community.

About addHOPE :

addHope is KFC’s initiative to fight hunger in the country. The brand has made it a mission to feed underprivileged children, so that they can grow, thrive and be their best selves. addHOPE is currently feeding 14000 children across the country, every day and aims to feed 20 million meals by 2020.

Media Query: Sayani Bhattacharya | [email protected] | 9654428509