By organizing specific events, Feeding Hearts is the awareness unit of Creative Services Support Group (CSSG): it develops awareness, cultivates talent and feeds young minds.
Awareness inspires people and incites them to feel concerned by the youth.
2016: Year of Youth Empowerment
After dedicating 2015 to women, CSSG decided in 2016 to focus on education and youth empowerment, while opening the existing programmes to boys.
The 2015 initiative “40 girls to 40 Chefs’, combining training and job placements in the culinary trades, gains new momentum by becoming ‘200 Youths to 200 Chefs’. At the same time, the new major focus of the programme ‘And Still I Rise’, which consists in workshops and an art exhibition regarding gender stereotypes, is the involvement of young boys and famous male personalities.
2016 will also be marked by the launch of a new major project, following the line of CSSG’s actions in favor of education and the gastronomic sector in the broad sense: the ‘Edible Education’ project will combine access to proper nutrition with garden-based education. It will educate children on healthy nutrition and will provide an opportunity to underprivileged youth to have access to edible and ethically grown food.
Each of these projects shares the ambition to empower young people, either by giving the opportunity of a career to young underprivileged adults or by training children on gender issues and on responsible food.
2015: Year of Women
CSSG has dedicated 2015 as the ‘Year of Women’. During this year, the organisation has successfully educated 450 young men and women in gender sensitivity, 53 young underprivileged girls as chefs, and numerous other young men and women.
There are few opportunities for underprivileged young women in India, and the ones available are not always used due to societal restraints women face. There is an ongoing need to raise awareness and have female role-models to change this perception. We need to create venues that will encourage women to make choices that can dramatically make a difference in their lives as well as in their families and their communities.
Improving education for girls is the closest thing to eliminating the root cause of global poverty. When we support girls education, we can create change, not charity.
In order to fight against gender issues and to create pathways towards training and employment, CSSG has put together a series of fundraising and outreach events including dinners, masterclasses and an art gender re-education outreach programme for which the organisation gets support from all corners of the world.
For more information, Programme for 2015.
2014: Careers opportunities
In 2014, CSSG mainly focused on creating opportunities to allow young adults entry into careers.Underprivileged youth received career exposure opportunities in the creative sector of their interest. Each action taken was based on the specific needs of each youth on a case-by-case analysis. Talks were also organized on a regular basis, in order to give youth motivation and confidence. In 2014 CSSG successfully placed 14 beneficiaries in various careers and continued building relationships to allow opportunities for a larger number of individuals.
2013: Food and Art
In 2013, CSSG organized numerous workshops with underprivileged homes and schools. The objective was to educate kids coming from the most underprivileged backgrounds through practicals, inspiring talks and lectures, regarding career opportunities and inspiring them to achieve goals within their chosen careers. CSSG’s initiative in 2013 / 2014 reached over 1500 kids through those workshops, lectures and interactions with leading international chefs.
The organisation worked with foster homes and NGOs (such as Teach India) and schools for disadvantaged youth. This actions, renewable in subsequent years, were also the opportunity to build long-term partnerships with organisations sharing the same values and commitments than CSSG to the poorest populations.
2012: Year of Gastronomy
In 2012, CSSG put its focus on the gastronomy sector, using food to bring people together for the creative sectors. The Gastronomy Summit brought together the best names in the international culinary industry. The summit opened at The Leela Palace in New Delhi followed by a fundraiser charity dinner at The Oberoi, Gurgaon for underprivileged individuals who expressed the desire to pursue a career in the gastronomy sector. It further featured six renowned international chefs, four of whom are Michelin starred – Anjum Anand, Ian Curley, Frances Atkins, Vineet Bhatia, Laurie Gear, and Marcello Tully – who were in conversation with key Indian food experts like Vir Sanghvi, Rashmi Uday Singh, Natasha Khurana, Advaita Kala and Marryam Reshi. The sit-down dinner included nine courses, prepared by the guest chefs.
2011: The Launch
The Creative Services Support Group (CSSG) was launched in April 2011 at the Aman Hotel in New Delhi with the support of exciting guests like Kumari Selja, Minister of Culture and renowned actor, Sharmila Tagore as the Chief Guest. Sir Richard Stagg, The British High Commissioner to India inaugurated the launch with the Founder of CSSG, Anand Kapoor and co-hosts Sir Mark Tully and Amin Jaffer.