Anahita Mahajan & Reana Soni, class 12 students from New Delhi’s Vasant Valley School, within a month of initiating a donations campaign to provide daily food essentials to the disadvantaged, have reached the amount pledged online on crowdfunding platform Milaap. Funds were also raised via offline community outreach, leading to a consolidated accumulation of INR 1,47,800 till date.
Keeping in mind a family of four, a sample grocery kit containing essentials like rice, pulses, oil, wheat flour and spices, was devised and procured at a subsidized rate of INR 500 per kit. Donations have been utilized to kick start the process of kit distribution via reliable channels. 100 kits have already been distributed with a plan to scale up the initiative to cover as many people as possible.
The initiative began after the teen students saw COVID-19 crisis leaving a large section of the domestic workforce unemployed, with no consistent means of earning a livelihood. Several watchmen, washers, pressers, drivers and gardeners have had their livelihoods disrupted. Anahita & Reana took it upon themselves to launch the initiative to help the less fortunate in their immediate vicinity.
Anahita says “As members of this community we felt responsible for these suffering families and wanted to extend our help in getting them through these turbulent times. After finding out that families were struggling to replenish their daily ration supplies, we set out to raise money for grocery kits. We implore more fortunate individuals to take some time out and initiate any acts of kindness to alleviate the stress and depression caused during the ongoing COVID crisis“
Reana adds, “We truly believe that each small donation can make a big difference to those in need. We will strive to continue in our endeavour of mobilising funds and increasing the reach and impact of this campaign until the people regain their livelihoods”
Details of the campaign can be found at the weblink given below:
