RANCHI: A group of young professionals in their twenties is providing cooked food and dry ration to the poor in the state capital.
According to Prerna Kumari, the team leader, the team is reaching out to more than 200 people every day during the lockdown. Prerna, who works for a multinational company, wanted to do something for society but was not getting a platform. Later, she got to know about the 'Vishalakshi Foundation' through Instagram.
“Initially, there was no one to support me except my family. Later, a few people joined and today we are a group of 40 members out of which 20 are very active,” said Prerna. As most of the team members are still pursuing higher education, they take out time for studies.
“To save labour cost, we cook and distribute it among the poor. We target a particular area on the basis of leads received by our volunteers. Besides, we also provide dry ration to people who have lost jobs due to the ongoing Covid pandemic,” said Prerna.
The team appeals to the donors through social media and the money received is used for buying groceries and vegetables. The food is distributed in packets.
Mansi Goyal, another volunteer, said they prefer distributing dry ration on weekdays. “On weekends, we make it a point to cook on our own and distribute the food among the poor,” Mansi, who is a law student, said.
“To reach out to the maximum number of people, we put up posters saying ‘Anybody who comes across any such person or family who need food or ration may contact us’. This has helped us providing us leads.”
Abilasha works for Wipro and is posted in Bengaluru. At present, she is working from home in Ranchi. “If I could help a single person, I would consider that my life has been a success. Initially, my parents opposed me but later they got used to it,” said Abhilasha, who joined the team in January.
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