HYDERABAD: “I have faced many ups and downs in my life and I intend to help others by supporting them in times of their needs,” says Gorthi Srinivas, a sales professional for the last 28 years in Hyderabad. “In 2010, the caretaker of an orphanage in the city asked me to donate groceries and clothes for the kids. I visited the place and fulfilled their needs, but I felt that it was a flash in the pan.
I wanted my help to be sustainable. So I convinced 25 friends to join me in helping them out and celebrate festivals with those kids. We also got MNR Hospital to do a health check-up for them,” says Srinivas.
A regular blood donor for 30 years, Gorthi has donated blood more than 100 times as his blood group is A +ve, a rare group.
“During one such session, I realised kids suffering from thalassemia need blood regularly. While organising a blood donation camp, I realised that many of my donor friends were suffering from hypertension.
That lead to me organising health camps for the public,” Gorthi adds. He also got corporate hospitals to conduct tests at discount rates for those in need. “The work I did for this also led to creating a blood donors list of 200 members.” Today, he runs his own NGO called Help Foundation to work on creating awareness about cancer and drive against drugs.
Gorthi also has been helping jaundice at BHEL for the last last two decades using natural medicine. During the lockdown, he worked with Akshaya Patra to pack 4,500 ration kits per day and garnered 2,400 ration kits for Surabhi stage artistes, watchmen, small-time hoteliers besides distributing food for 2,000 migrant labour.