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Corona Warriors: This Group Of Volunteers Have Helped Feed Over 3,000 Families Amid Lockdown
India, 15 May 2020 4:01 PM GMT | Updated 16 May 2020 8:19 AM GMT
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So far, team iPledge has delivered essentials worth more than Rs 4.5 Lakh including feeding more than 3000 families, over 600 PPE kits, and sanitizing public areas.
In an effort to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, India has been under a nationwide lockdown since March 24. While many of us have the privilege to protect ourselves and continue to work, the lockdown has left lakhs of people without a livelihood. With no means for work or money, many, especially migrant workers, are left scrambling for basic needs.
In these trying times, several NGOs have been tirelessly working to take care of those in need. And it's the volunteers from across the country who are helping these organisations with everything from mobilising funds to reaching out to the most-affected on ground. One such group of volunteers is iPledge.
iPledge is a nonpolitical/nonprofitable group of volunteers taking an initiative to serve the most impacted lives in the society due to the pandemic. They work as a support group to their friends who are working on-ground to extend provisions to those worse-hit by the coronavirus crisis.
So far, team iPledge has delivered essentials worth more than Rs 4.5 Lakh including feeding more than 3000 families, over 600 PPE kits, and sanitizing public areas.
"Through individual efforts and registered organizations our friends have taken the charge to serve humanity on-ground, in this unprecedented crisis. We are putting all possible efforts to raise funds for their groundwork and save as many lives as we can," Manik Goel, admin/fundraiser of iPledge, tells The Logical Indian.
Goel got together five of his friends and formed the group in the first week of April. While they have previously done several campaigns to contribute towards various social causes, due to the lockdown, many couldn't go on ground. This dilemma prompted the friends to start a fundraiser.
For this, they started the iPledge group on Facebook, where they challenged people to 'take a pledge to fight COVID-19 together.' They asked the people to contribute any amount they could to those distributing ration, daily essentials, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)s and sanitising the neighbourhoods.
"We give choice to donors on our page. Whatever they would like to do, we have given all the payment channels. We don't accept any donations at our accounts, but, we ask them to donate directly to the organisations or the individual who is working," explains Goel.
"We have around 500 people in our group. We have been constantly updating about the ground work. We have been conducting all these live sessions as well from our friends who are working on the ground so that people in the group, who have donated, can know how their funds are being used and what exactly is the ground situation," Manish Bharadwaj, admin/fundraiser of iPledge tells The Logical Indian.
With the funds they raised, they have been supporting their friends on the ground, who work within their individual capacity or under an organisation.
"So far, we have been able to collect more than Rs 4.5 lakh. From that, we have been able to feed more than 3,000 families. Through Voice of Taxpayers org, we have been able to provide 600 plus PPE kits, and we gave funds to Rahis for sanitising public areas in Delhi like different schools where the migrants are staying, police booths, police barricades, etc," says Bharadwaj.
"As a team, we believe that anyhow we are suffering from corona a lot, but, let's not let others die because of hunger. That is the most critical problem and due to the lockdown it has drastically increased," says Goel.
Through their on-ground volunteers, the team has provided food to over 3,000 families.
"One of our ground volunteers, Prerna Prasad, started supporting the migrants who where walking from Delhi to UP border. In the first two days, she helped around 1,000 families. She then went to nearby areas in Kaushambi and Ghaziabad, where she has been helping families who had lost their work," says Goel.
In Agra, Akash Jain, another volunteer, is supporting the underprivileged families by providing them with dry ration, which majorly constitutes flour and rice.
The group has supplied over 600 PPE kits across hospitals working for COVID-19 in Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, in Delhi, Rahis Khan is working with the government to sanitise public areas and a few residential areas. They have sanitised over 50 petrol pumps, 15 police stations, and over 30 government night shelters, among others. All the areas are sanitised twice a week."We are targeting to manage this campaign till May end. We would also like to support extra month after the lockdown, because, many people will be not having any work and no earning," says Goel.
You can support their volunteering efforts by mailing to iPledge4Cause@gmail.com or joining them on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/groups/1051171805252630/
Also Read: Corona Warriors: By Distributing 8,294 Ration Kits, This Pune NGO Is Ensuring Basic Needs Of Poor Families Amid Lockdown
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