BENGALURU: Social media pages have proved that they can be a potent tool to pool in help. A simple call (meme) for help from the meme pages, which has lakhs of followers, has resulted in thousands lending a helping hand to the flood victims in Kerala and Kodagu. These pages together have collected lakhs and have sent truckloads of goods to the flood-hit remote areas. A Facebook page Namma Karnataka Memes, with over 9 lakh followers has managed to pool in over `25lakh. Admin of the page Pavan JD speaks to CE from Kodagu. He says, “We are still here in Kodagu managing the situation.
Over 75 volunteers, including 30 from our team, a few doctors and animal rescue team, are helping the needy. All of us have been sleeping for only two hours a day. On an average, every day, we are sending over three to four trucks of relief materials from Bengaluru alone. We also went to a few remote villages and distributed necessary materials to them personally. Many Sandalwood celebrities joined hands with us because of which we were able to make a huge difference.” They have also sent relief materials to Kerala as well.
Admin Sowmya N Gowda of Othla Nan Makklu page, which has over 3 lakh followers said, “Admin of Troll Anthammas page Santosh took an initiative to bring in admins of troll pages - Troll Anthammas, Naanu Kannadiga, Troll Adda, Bike Pantru, Belagavi, Kannada Deshadol – together. From every page, a minimum of 20 people went across the city, collecting relief material from every individual/organisation who just sent a message on Facebook and Instagram. A 75-year-old man handed us 10 biscuit packets. We have altogether sent relief materials over worth Rs 10 lakhs.”
Mohan, a team member from Troll Guru meme page, which has over 5 lakh followers, said, “We personally handed over Rs 40,000 in cash and delivered two truck-loads of relief materials to the needy. There were rumours that a lot of people are misusing the relief materials. So we did not take a chance.”