When the pandemic hit in March 2020, the founder of The Fire Grill restaurant Shankar Santhiram launched the “Meals Initiative”, where he pledged 20% of the restaurant’s revenue towards cooking meals for the needy.

“We thought, we’ve got a place, we’ve got staff, what does our community need at this moment? What is it that we can do to make things better?”

Appealing for funds over social media, Shankar said that 150 donors came forward, pledging whatever they could afford. In total, about RM155,000 was raised.

However, more funds were needed to keep the initiative going, so Shankar donated RM100,000 of the restaurant’s revenue towards the effort.

“We started this off with earnestness. It was to keep the business and my staff going,” said the management consultant and trainer.

Working primarily with Persatuan OKU Sentral and Kechara Soup Kitchen, his team also provided food to the Orang Asli resettlement in Bukit Lanjan, two PPR communities, the homeless, zakat recipients, The Society of the Blind, around 20 needy families, as well as Healthy Equity Initiative, a non-profit organisation that distributes food to Rohingya and Afghan refugees.

In addition, they also delivered food to frontliners in hospitals, as well as police, military and RELA personnel.

And after the Taman Sri Muda floods occurred in December last year, Shankar and his team delivered about 8,000 meals to the flood victims there and on Carey Island.

“My team and I went into Carey Island in a four-wheel drive to distribute the food ourselves; it was a life-defining moment I’ll never forget,” he said.

Shankar and his team of eight have so far cooked 51,790 hot meals for the needy from March 2020 to September this year. They have now called it a day as life slowly returns to normal.

At their peak, they prepared 1,500 meals per week for about a month with all the cooking and packing done in the restaurant. Each meal cost RM5 and consisted of rice, one protein and a side dish.

“I was here every day cooking with my team. I even had to rope in my wife who would help out after her work. It was basically waking up every day and doing it and hoping people would give us money so we could go to the market, buy food and send it out,” he said.

He admitted that he almost ended the project once when funds were insufficient. However, many NGOs begged him to carry on, and touched by their plight, he put in a fresh appeal for funds.

Besides cash, some donated bags of rice, dhal and chicken meat. There were also a number of non-Malaysian donors who supported the cause. “I’m equally grateful to our loyal customer base who contributed by patronising the restaurant.”

Needless to say, Shankar said he experienced many heart-breaking moments when carrying out the initiative, the most poignant being a chat he had with a child from the Bukit Lanjan Orang Asli resettlement in Kota Damansara.

“She hadn’t eaten rice for four days, surviving on buns and Mamee Monster snacks. There were also those who lived in abject poverty, like the single mother with four children who had no support network after her family disowned her.”

Despite these dreadful situations, his team simply could not meet every appeal. “It was painful to tell a family of four that we could only give out two meals and that they’d have to share.

He said that in the beginning, he was unsure of how long the initiative could be sustained, and some of his friends and family voiced their concerns as well. “I just believe that if you’re doing something right, the universe will find a way.”

To him, the sustainability of a business has much to do with whether that business serves the community at large, or only makes a profit from them.

“When the community is in need, many businesses don’t do anything. And that’s why I have now made it a rule for myself to only support businesses that helped people during the pandemic,” he explained.

And although the project has come to an end, his donors have pledged their support should he initiate something similar again.

“That’s a win for everyone.”

For more information, check out The Fire Grill on its website, Facebook and Instagram.

The Fire Grill
24, Jalan Datuk Sulaiman
Taman Tun Dr Ismail
60000 Kuala Lumpur

Business hours:
Monday to Friday: 5pm-11pm
Saturday: 12pm-3pm (Shankar’s Saturday Sappadu); 5pm-11pm
Closed on Sunday.