Anoop Jain: Food for the Hungry

In summer 2010 Anoop Jain (McC09) quit his engineering job in suburban Chicago, raised $25,000 and went to India to work on a community kitchen for Tibetan refugees in McLeod Ganj, a village on the outskirts of the Indian city of Dharamsala. Jain, whose family is from India, is working on the project with LHA (Louisiana Himalaya Association) Charitable Trust, an organization he first encountered while gutting houses in his hometown of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. In summer 2006 Jain went to McLeod Ganj on an LHA program to teach English to Tibetan refugees, many of whom crossed the Himalayas on foot to reach India. That’s when he saw the need for healthier fare. The kitchen, which opened in July, provides inexpensive, nutritious meals and instructions in healthy eating.