TIRUCHY: Even as frontline workers are battling the spread of Covid-19, volunteers have been helping the affected fight a different battle – hunger. Alumni of Jamal Mohammed College are one such group that has been distributing food ever since lockdown was imposed.
Working under the banner of Nal Ullangal Trust, the alumnus of the college distribute lunch packets to 100 people on Sundays.
They primarily hand over food to relatives of those admitted in the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital and street dwellers who find it difficult to buy food during total lockdown.
“Mostly packs don’t remain, if it does we distribute it in the neighbourhood,” Syed Muhamed, a member of the group.
“During the initial days of lockdown we distributed food at many places and did not restrict to any particular time. But we are now focusing on GH,” Syed said.
Before Unlock 1.0 (first round of lockdown relaxations), they distributed food on all days.
“We used to distribute 250 to 300 packets a day then. There were so many people on the street with no way to source food,” he said.
The trust has distributed over 20,000 food packets since the lockdown. But it is not new to them. For over two years they have been distributing food on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The alumni pool money for the cause. They have distributed grocery packets for the visually impaired, supported women for weaving baskets and sent milk powder for orphaned kids.