Food For All

About Assi Anna Kshetra

It is a small group of around a dozen like-minded individuals committed to philanthropy across Varanasi. The group has been proactively undertaking free food drives during the lockdown to help vulnerable sections. Pranav Singh, a proactive member of the organization shares some significant details about their charitable endeavor

How are
you helping people in times of pandemic?

The lockdown due to the pandemic
has crippled business and employment across localities in Varanasi. Many
migrant laborers and daily wage earners have lost their livelihoods, pushing
them to the brink of penury. We have ensured that at least one meal a day
reaches out to the affected people.

What’s
the main goal of your organization?

The
primary agenda has always remained to help the underprivileged sections with
food, clothes, and other necessities. The current scenario has prioritized our
‘food for all’ idea over other aid and assistance. Initially, we had been
undertaking free-food drives every Saturday for the last two years across
different regions of Varanasi.

How
many members form your team? Where do you operate?

We are currently a team of 12 like-minded
individuals who wish to bring positive change across our society through philanthropic
acts like ‘food drives’ for the poor and vulnerable. We have been doing this
for the last two years on a small scale depending upon the budget we had.

We operate from a small shop located at
the Assi Ghat in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

How
do you acquire funds for your charitable assignments?

The contributions from our members form our primary source
of funding. We have also been reaching out for donations through social media
and WhatsApp. Good word of mouth across our locality has also helped us raise
funds for our cause.

About Pranav Singh

A
commerce graduate from Purvanchal University and MBA in Human Resource
Management, Pranav has been one of the founding members of the Assi Anna
Kshetra. He currently resides in Varanasi.

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Synchrony provides 5000 masks to Hyderabad police

Financial
Services Company Synchrony has distributed 5,000 surgical masks to Hyderabad
Police to ensure their well-being while they have been at the forefront in the
battle against the pandemic.

 Synchrony, along with the Telangana police,
has been instrumental in enhancing security across Telangana with the
successful installation of 280 CCTV cameras across Hyderabad for surveillance
purposes. The company has provided almost 15,000 masks to the Telangana State
police since the outbreak of the virus until now.

 “Never before have communities where we live
and work been so important to us, and Synchrony is committed to supporting
them,” Mr.Andy Ponneri, Senior Vice President and Business Leader – India,
Synchrony was quoted as saying.

 “Synchrony has a long-standing association
with Hyderabad City Police, and we are grateful for their ongoing efforts in
keeping our communities safe.” he further added.

The
company has also been in collaboration with the Officer of Commissioner of
Police to impart soft skills training to police personnel to enhance their
communication and interpersonal skills.

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Nilkamal Furniture and MMRDA join hands for BKC modular hospital

Nilkamal
Furniture has joined hands with Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development
Authority (MMRDA) to set-up an emergency hospital by arranging 1000 COVID
Quarantine Beds, furniture, and other essential stuff.

 The Quarantine facility has been prepared in two
weeks, and beds designed by the Nilkamal group have a cabinet that can be
utilized for dining and storage purposes.

 “On behalf of residents of Mumbai, we are
thankful to the MMRDA for the swiftness of their action in creating this
mammoth makeshift hospital with such great prowess. This has been exhibited
through the MMRDA’s Operations Committee’s ability in swift decision making,
its clarity of mind, strict demand for quality, and tight delivery timelines.
The project was commissioned in record time with a keen eye on attention to
detail. We are grateful to the MMRDA for believing in our capabilities and
extending us an opportunity to do our bit. We are proud of our team that
despite numerous challenges and limitations, we have been able to deliver successfully
on this project and well before the timelines. We stand together in solidarity
with the Government of Maharashtra, MMRDA, and all bodies in this fight against
COVID-19.”

Ajay Agarwal, VP Operations, Nilkamal Limited was quoted as saying.

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Vodafone Foundation to provide ration to vulnerable families

The CSR arm of Vodafone Idea Limited Vodafone Foundation has reached out to vulnerable sections with essential items during these testing times under its Gali Gali Gaon Gaon initiative. Collaborating with the Learning Links Foundation, Vodafone Foundation has distributed ration kits to around 3000 families across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharastra &Karnataka.

“With over 64000 reported COVID 19 cases in India, the Government, as well as Businesses, have been employing various initiatives to comfort the lower stratum of the economy and invited collective support from development organizations like ours to enhance the efficiency and scale. This endeavour to provide 10 days’ worth of ration kits to 3000 families each, is supporting the larger cause as well as taking care of the basic sustenance needs of some of the most impacted families that we have been working closely with under our ongoing Jaadu Ginni Ka financial literacy programme. I would like to thank the team’s efforts and co-operation in facilitating the JGK infrastructure and network to help and support the people in need, during this crisis.” P. Balaji, Director – Vodafone Foundation, was quoted as saying.

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Wipro GE Healthcare and PPHF to set up COVID hospitals

The administrative office at Kandhya Bhawan, Ramanagaram District, Karnataka has been changed into a COVID-19 hospital with the aid and assistance from Wipro GE Healthcare and its NGO People to People Health Foundation.

Wipro GE Healthcare and the People for People Health Foundation have also risen to the occasion by providing around 500 PPEs and N95 masks thereby ensuring the well-being of the healthcare professionals.

 “India is courageously working in managing the Corona impact. We are committed to taking forward the vision of our government of a Corona free nation. We appreciate the timely support from Wipro GE Healthcare and People-to-People Health Foundation (PPHF) for supporting the dedicated COVID 19 referral hospital and donating essential protective supplies for emergency responders.’’  B. Sreeramulu, Honourable Health and Family Welfare Minister, Government of Karnataka, was quoted as saying.

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Delhi University students step up to fight against Coronavirus

Gautam Baranwal, a law student from Delhi University
along with his friends Deepak Singh and Mukesh Kumar decided to contribute 100
rupees to a common fund to help the people affected by the lockdown. They
shared the idea with their other friends located across different parts of the
country like Surat, Ara, Patna, and Hazaribagh. They all chipped in to step up
in times of one of the biggest humanitarian crises since World War II. We
conversed with Gautam about the philanthropic initiative, here are the highlights
of the conversation.

How did you initiate the
relief operations for the people affected by the lockdown imposed by the govt
as a precautionary measure against the COVID-19?

When PM Modi announced the lockdown, we pondered upon how
we could help the daily-wage workers or the people adversely impacted by the
lockdown.

Then one of our friends came up with a brilliant idea and
put a proposal that each one of us would be contributing Rs. 100 each day for
21 days till lockdown ends, and the same was circulated by all our friends on
WhatsApp thereby raising enough funds to undertake an organized relief campaign
for the poor and needy.

 How did you manage to acquire funds for the
relief campaign?

Initially, we started taking contributions from the members
and created a pool of funds. Later on, many friends or other mutual friends
contributed and wished not to be added to the group. However, we decided that
the funds should flow in from the chain only. So, we never took contributions
from a completely unknown person or stranger. We never posted or published our
bank accounts or Paytm or Google Pay No. exhorting people to contribute. The
concept was Rs.100 each for 21 days. People contributed even more. So the fund
was not a problem. The rationale for taking funds only from persons in the
chain of trust was to prevent misuse of funds and to maintain greater
transparency about the source and use of funds.

 How did you execute the plan and reached out
to the needy?

The execution was a real problem initially due to the
lockdown. But then we spread the message that every member has to look in his /
her vicinity and help the needy out. Upon finding a needy person/family, a team
member would facilitate buying essentials like 
Rice, Aata, oil, spices, vegetables, pulses, soybean, soap, detergent,
salt, biscuits from the nearest grocery.

To date, we have served more than 500 families and also
distributed cooked foods in some places.

 What are the cities your team is currently
operating in?

We are a group of friends and batch mates. We all are
inspired by the idea of humanism and altruism. 
When we realized that we could come up with an idea to donate Rs.100 per
day, we circulated the idea to all our friends across Patna, Ara, Buxar,
Hazaribagh, Deoghar, Varanasi, Azamgarh, Noida, Ghaziabad, Delhi, Rohtak,
Sonipat, Faridabad, kutch, and Surat.

We are not an organization with headquarters/offices.
We’d rather represent an idea. An idea to serve mankind. An idea to be a part
of a welfare campaign. 

About Gautam Baranwal:

Gautam Barnwal is a student at Campus Law Centre,
University of Delhi. He is one of the founding members of this group and
currently distributing essential commodities to the underprivileged sections
across Deoghar and Jharkhand. His friends are distributing rations across Ara,
Patna, and Hazaribagh.

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Change I Network – Changing Lives For Good

Change I Network (CIN) is a registered Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in New Delhi that has been working relentlessly for the upliftment of underprivileged sections through its four flagship programs – Paathshaala, Paryavaran, Perfect Health, and Pahal. 

Founded by Umesh Sharma -an alumnus of the Board of Technical Education, Delhi & Ajay Pandey -an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management Indore – the organization is recently catering to the needy and poor sections of the society amidst national lockdown post-COVID 19 crisis. 

Given below is an excerpt from our conversation with Umesh Sharma about their ongoing charitable campaign.

 What is the primary focus/Vision of your organization?

We aspire to inspire civil society through our social work and charitable campaigns for the underprivileged sections through hunger eradication drives, education for all, helping the elderly, and a few other schemes aimed at the empowerment of women. 

How are you helping people in the time of pandemic?

We distributed almost 100 Food Material Kits,

( Wheat Flour – 10 Kg, Rice-5 Kg, Pulses-2 Kg, Salt- 1 Kg & Soap- 4 No) 

We are also running an awareness camp on Covid-19 across different localities in New Delhi through the Change I Network-Pathshala Team. The stress is laid upon mandatory use of masks, social distancing, and maintaining personal hygiene through frequent hand-washing and sanitization.

How many members are there in your team & where do you operate?

We are currently a team of 100 young people, especially students, who usually engage in relief operations in two different shifts. 

Currently, we are running Change I Network Pathshala at Martial, Sector-3, Dwarka.

About the Founder:

Umesh Sharma is an alumnus of the Board of Technical Education (BTE) Delhi and has a Diploma in Automobile Engineering. He has rich exposure of over 14 years of working in the Automobile Industry in used car division, service industry & electric car industry.

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Bata Group takes a step towards fighting against Covid-19 with a compassionate donation for the health workers

Bata Group has decided to donate 1 million pairs of shoes to healthcare workers besides providing them with masks, face shields, and PPE Kit in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.  

The Group has also been distributing food, essential items, and other hygienic products through the Bata Children’s Program and the Bata Shoe Foundation. 

“During these unprecedented times, Bata is committed to doing everything possible to ensure the health and safety of our employees and consumers, to continue to serve our consumers to the best of our ability, and to take meaningful action to help communities in need and those on the frontlines” Alexis Nasard, Bata CEO, was quoted as saying.

The Group has been at the forefront in its fight against COVID-19 pandemic by working in tandem with various charitable foundations, government organizations and other partners across countries like India, Czech Republic, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Colombia, Italy, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Chile, Peru, Thailand, Malaysia

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Capgemini comes to the forefront in its fight against COVID-19

Capgemini has come at the forefront in its fight against the COVID-19 by distributing PPE kits, face masks, cooked meals, and face shields to help people with the pandemic.

A renowned name for consulting, technology services, and digital transformation. Capgemini has reached out to healthcare professionals, sanitation workers, and migrant workers with all the necessary aid needed by them in one of the biggest crises of decades.

The company has so far reached out to over 48,000
families providing them with all the essential items from cooked meals to
groceries.

Since its maiden appearance in the city of Wuhan in
China, Coronavirus disease has affected more than 3.7 million people across the
globe with over 2,64,000 fatalities to date.

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