Andhra cop’s ‘Deevena’ for underprivileged kids

The cop had set up Deevena Foundation with the help of his family, friends and the like-minded people in the Police Department. Now, the NGO has a total membership of 200.
Andhra cop’s ‘Deevena’ for underprivileged kids

VIJAYAWADA: What started off as just helping a physically challenged four-year-old girl living in the same colony by head constable Khambampati Nagaraju three years ago, has now become an NGO extending medical aid to the children suffering from chronic diseases.

Explaining his initiative, Nagaraju said: “A girl named Deevena residing in our colony was suffering from a rare disease. We knew her family well. I mobilised some money and helped the girl in getting medical treatment. That is the moment when I decided to help children suffering from chronic diseases.”

The cop had set up Deevena Foundation with the help of his family, friends and the like-minded people in the Police Department. Now, the NGO has a total membership of 200. It has been implementing several social service activities for the past two years, benefiting poor people, senior citizens, widows, students and other needy people. The foundation has extended aid to the medical treatment of more than 100 children so far. Commending the social services of the foundation, several police officials have started supporting its activities. It has helped more than 1,000 needy people in one way or the other so far.

“If anyone approaches us for help, our team conducts a verification to ascertain the genuinity of his claim. Later, we will take care of the treatment cost of the child. The Deevena Foundation has supported the medical treatment cost of more than 100 children, including heart surgeries, in the past three years,” said the 34-year-old head constable.

“Initially, I planned to help the needy children like Deevena known to me in our locality. After seeing the response to my small gesture, I am determined to extend aid more number of needy children and my initiative is being well-supported by my family members, friends and colleagues in the department,” the cop explained.

The foundation has rendered yeoman services to the people during the Covid-19 pandemic. It has provided essential commodities to many poor families during the lockdown. It has also conducted more than 200 blood donation camps for the benefit of children suffering from thalassemia and other disorders.

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