KOCHI: The pandemic has left everyone in a bind, especially those who depended on their art to earn their livelihood. With festivals, events and tourism programmes coming to a halt, kathakali artists, chenda players, mahouts and many others who have dedicated their lives to the crafts have been living in poverty. Realising their dire situation, Dream Mirror, an NGO based in Thrissur, decided to set up a fundraiser in association with Donatekart, a crowdfunding platform. According to Anil Kumar Reddy, CEO and co-founder, Donatekart, we must take care of the artists who are the repository of traditions and culture. “At a time when they’re going through the worst, we at Donatekart are humbled to be able to help these talented artists in need. We hope to be able to help them again.”
With limited skillsets that cannot be applied anywhere else, these artists and their families were struggling to make the ends meet. “The situation became so dire that they had to go without food for weeks together,” said Reddy.
Donatekart has created a campaign on its platform www.donatekart.com, where people could visit and donate as per their choice. The webpage had options for people to choose from stables like rice, atta, tur dal, sunflower oil, salt, chilli powder, turmeric powder and more. Over Rs. 72,960 worth of products were adeed with the help of 114 donors. As many as 315 families of artists have benefited from this fundraiser.
According to Ben John, director of Dream Mirror, it is heartwarming to see so many people going out of their way to help the artists struggling in a time like this. “We had started this campaign with plenty of hope. We see them being fulfilled now and this has reinstated our faith in crowdfunding,” he said.
Donatekart has played a crucial role in allowing people to contribute to this and other causes throughout the pandemic. With several NGO partners in Mumbai, Delhi, Rajkot, Jaipur, Pune, Ghaziabad and other cities in India, Donatekart has raised over 30 crores worth of hospital infrastructure with over 1.5 lakh donors most effectively and transparently. This includes oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators, beds, oximeters, etc. They have also started distribution of equipment to hospitals and home quarantine patients, and grocery kits to those in need. This is the need of the hour, and the urgency of the situation calls for swift action.