One tweet saved the day during Chennai floods

The founders of Giveaway, Fahd Khaleel, Mohamad Asif and Nareshwar Sivanesan, got a chance to meet Jennie Sager, Twitter’s Head of Entertainment, Asia-Pacific and Japan. They narrated to her an incident about how one tweet made them believe miracles could happen! Also at the event were Keya Madhani Singh, Head, India Entertainment Partnerships, and Taranjeet Singh, Country Director, Twitter India. 

A global crowdsourcing platform focused on channellising product donations to the needy, Giveaway has been operational since 2015. During the Chennai floods, they tied up with a mobile food delivery company to prepare and procure 25,000 meal packets to victims of the natural calamity. 

Recalls Fahd, “I got in touch with someone from the Indian Airforce and was promised flights to help deliver the food in the affected areas. We were thrilled about this news but in the last minute, they refused due to protocol and strict orders.” 

Worried if such large quantities would go waste, the boys began panicking since it was already being prepared in the kitchens of a restaurant. 

“It was past 10.30 pm when we received this news. The food had to be delivered the next morning and that’s when Twitter came to our rescue. We put out one tweet saying, ‘Food for 25,000 available, we need a flying partner to help transport it to flood-affected areas.’ We tagged a couple of airlines,” he explains. 

Within five minutes, the ground staffer of Indigo Airlines saw it and sent it up to his officials and all the permissions for transportation of the food the next day, fell into place! Jennie remembered following various tweets about the flood and was so impressed with the boys’ work that she immediately agreed to lend support in the future as well. 

“I couldn’t believe I was talking to such senior officials from the company but thanks to their reassurance, we think we can help a lot of people through crowdsourcing and social media because the reach is wider,” says Fahd. 

Giveaway initially started off as an organisation that would collect excess food from hotels, wedding venues, etc. and hand it over to beneficiaries to prevent wastage. 

Over the years, they realised they could mobilise a lot more than just food for the underprivileged. 

“There are many people who need help so now through innovative ideas and strategies, we link donors to beneficiaries via corporates at the right time via appropriate mediums,” summarises Naresh, thrilled that they’re moving on the path forward.