Distribution of food packages and artificial limbs done by Gurudeva Caritable Trust
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COVID-19 Food Bank
$25 donation helped one family for a month
As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe in 2020, nearly everyone's lives were forced to change. Countries and states were scrambling to contain the spread of the virus. India, in particular, faced a far greater challenge due to its large population size, density, and high levels of poverty. The lockdown left hundreds of thousands of families without any income to support the most basic of needs: food, water, and electricity. In addition to this, the migrant worker crisis only exacerbated the issue causing many to walk 100s of miles to reach their rural homes. Seemandhra Forum (SAF) as an organization quickly saw these effects of the lockdown and were determined to help those adversely impacted in any way we can. In partnership with Sri GuruDeva Charitable Trust a local non profit based in South india, and local volunteers we planned a Covid-19 food bank to help the elderly and disabled who did not have a safety net.
As Youth leaders of SAF – Keerthana Katuru, Akhila Bordag & Raghava Katuru were in charge of social media marketing, fundraising and program coordination. A GoFundMe campaign was setup with tight deadlines due to the immediate nature of the need. The youth volunteers worked to share the news on social media platforms and also help keep the SeemandhraForum.org website up to date with the latest information on our projects and how our community could help.
Thankfully, our efforts paid off as we were able to raise close to $4000 in a short period, helping us feed over 150 families for a month. These food packages consisted of rice, oil, onions, potatoes, flour, lentils, soap, masks and more. Local volunteers apportioned these packages in the Vijayanagaram district to families that do not have access to the rations provided by the government. Precooked Food packages were also distributed to many disabled individuals and migrant workers crossing the state border who were unable to obtain even a single meal per day. In Krishna district, volunteers of Seemandhra Forum have partnered with local farmers to purchase vegetables at significantly lower cost and then distribute them along with bottles of sanitizer and masks to senior citizens to limit the risk of COVID-19 possibly spreading.
We held a zoom meeting during the distribution process and were able to hear some of the stories of the people we were able to help. Their words spoke to the need of proper awareness of their situations as well as the need for organizations like ours and the Sri GuruDeva Charitable Trust as oftentimes these people do not have anyone to advocate for them.