PepsiCo India to provide over 50 lakh meals to the poor, 25,000 COVID-19 testing kits to support the medical fraternity

PepsiCo India along with its philanthropic arm PepsiCo Foundation on Monday committed to providing over 50 lakh meals to support families impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.

The initiative is part of PepsiCo's #GiveMealsGiveHope global programme. The company is also extending support to the healthcare and diagnostic facilities, supplementing their efforts to combat the pandemic by providing 25,000 COVID-19 testing kits.

PepsiCo India has partnered with Akshaya Patra Foundation to provide cooked meals to the underserved communities through its centralised kitchens where it is partnering closely with the local authorities for distribution of meals.

PepsiCo India has also partnered with Smile Foundation to provide dry food rations to support meals for over 8,000 vulnerable families adversely impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.

PepsiCo India has partnered with Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) to provide 25,000 COVID-19 testing kits. FIND, a non-profit body is the World Health Organisation's collaborating centre for laboratory strengthening and diagnostic technology evaluation. It works closely with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

These testing kits will be deployed across public and private healthcare laboratories identified by the government to scale up access to COVID-19 testing.

PepsiCo India President Ahmed El Sheikh said the company stands committed to lending its full support to both the Central and state governments in their fight to collectively overcome the global health challenge.

To further mobilise funds, PepsiCo India has launched a double matching gifts programme which involves its employees also lending their support to communities that are impacted by COVID-19.

As part of the programme, PepsiCo Foundation will match all employee donations by two-fold and give the total accumulated fund to the NGO partners working with the company.