Chennai: Serving to humanity is serving to God. This age-old saying can now be seen alive and active on the roads of the country, with so many helping hands reaching out to the needy.
While the government-run Amma Canteens provide free food to the poor in major cities including Chennai, many others too are doing their bit to drive away hunger and to ensure the safety of people during the pandemic times.
SPIRITUAL SERVICE
ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciouness) Chennai supports the government in all the steps advocated by it not only for the prevention of the spread of Covid-19 but also to extend necessary essentials to the people of the State during the period of lockdown
At ISKCON Sholinganallur temple on ECR, packed food is kept available for patrolling police officers who avail the same through the day. Food relief is being carried out by other centers of ISKCON in the districts of Tamilnadu such as Coimbatore, Madurai, Nagercoil, Trichy and so on to the needy.
On the request of the Zonal Officer of the Greater Chennai Corporation, ISKCON Chennai distributed 2000 safety kits containg gloves, masks, sanitiser and soap. These have been handed over to the Zonal officer to distribute to volunteers, health workers and sanitation staff. Safety kits were also given to the Neelankarai Police station.
KITS WITH CARE
Vidyadhan, a flagship scholarship program under ‘The Shibulal Family Philanthropic Initiatives’, announced the distribution of daily essential kits as part of its Covid-19 relief program. In the first phase, 10,000 grocery kits are being distributed in the States of Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Maharashtra. This will be followed by a similar exercise in other States where Vidyadhan has a presence.
Kumari Shibulal, founder and chairperson, The Shibulal Family Philanthropic Initiatives said, “We are passing through an unprecedented and unexpectedly difficult time. Times like these test our commitment to the well-being of humanity and call for greater unity and compassion among us. This daily essential kit is a humble attempt to express our support and solidarity.”
QUENCHING THIRST
Thaagam Foundation, an NGO started by a Chennai youth C Raja Monsingh, is providing food to 2500 needy people, which comprises of homeless, proverty stricken families, migrant labour and daily wagers. The NGO also works with the government to feed homeless shelters, Corporation workers and other front-line workers everyday. This comes at a time when the threat of the coronavirus pandemic is looming large in India and there is a shortage of cooked food availablity.
The food is cooked with premium rice, fresh vegetables and quality ingredients and served with a hard-boiled egg to raise the level of nutrition to fight Covid-19. During this crisis, Thaagam Foundation’s volunteers have braved and helping the poor and needy.
COMING TOGETHER
Members of Chennai-based Shree Agarwal Samaj show their social responsibility in a unique way to protect the stranded underprivileged people from deadly pandemic virus.
The Samaj’s 1200 families in Chennai have been relentlessly working by distributing ration kits to the underprivileged families at this difficult hour of Covid-19. Till now they have distributed more than 12,000 provision kits through Collectors, Tahsildars, volunteers and through various charitable trusts and NGOs to stranded and underprivileged families. The kits are distributed in the areas like Redhills, Tondiarpet, Vyasarpadi, Ambattur, Ponneri, Avadi, Madhavaram, Tiruttani etc.
TIME TO ‘PAYBACK’
Payback India, a multi-brand loyalty program, recently launched a campaign – Save more than just money with points for its over 100 million members. Under this initiative, Payback is encouraging members to make use of accumulated loyalty points by voluntarily donating as much as they can to save lives and help families or individuals in financial stress or need personal protective equipment like face masks, gloves, sanitisers et al to fight coronavirus.
For this initiative, Payback India has partnered with TATA Trust and World Vision, where members can voluntarily donate a minimum 1000 points to up to 20,000 points, which will be used to provide personal protective equipment, ration for families, food supplements or any essential items for needy individuals and families.