A British Pakistani has been honored with the British Empire Medal for his services to the low-income residents of the Hounslow area of London.

Ehsan Shahid Choudhry was included in the first King’s Birthday Honors List 2023. He will be awarded the Order of the British Empire for serving free meals to low-income families.

“I have been honored with the BEM for my services to the community in the London Borough of Hounslow,” Ehsan Shahid Choudhry, co-founder of Muslim Hands — The Open Kitchen, told Geo News.

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“I am thankful to His Majesty King Charles for honoring me with the British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to the local community. Serving those in need is always an honor. I will continue to make every effort to carry out my duties to the best of my ability.

“Since I was a child growing up in Pakistan, my parents and teachers taught me to always help others. That’s a value I have carried with me and cherished. We feed hundreds of people daily and we will continue to do that with support from the community.”

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Muslim Hands, an international aid agency and NGO, was established in 1993 that has worked in crisis-hit areas.

The aid agency works in over 50 countries and has field offices in over 30 of these.

In 2018, Choudhry launched The Open Kitchen, a service through which low-income families can get free lunch meals throughout the year.

Muslim Hands already received the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2019.