A Pune-based organisation has taken on a humanitarian cause to supply food to those isolating in home quarantine, free of charge. Shree Poona Modh Mitra Mandal has supplied 9,000 tiffin meals to citizens for the past seven to eight months, as per The Indian Express.
They now cater to a demand of 300 tiffins a day, and have used personal funds worth Rs 15 lakh to mobilise this initiative, as per the report. They are requesting their regulars to contribute as much to keep the initiative going, considering they spend Rs 30,000 a day.
The 13-member committee has done significant work in the food shortage that has gripped locals in the pandemic. They are utilising catering services of Bipin Goradya who spoke to The Indian Express to note that the team volunteers start cooking at their workshop in Handewadi from 6 am, since they experience a greater demand for food in the morning. As per the report, he said that they also deliver food to patients at hospitals such as Sane Guruji Hospital.
The Mitra Mandal committee also identified auto-drivers willing to take the food. They work with a team of volunteers to deliver, and identify more families to deliver the food. They also support families who are isolating alone, who may be too weak to cook, and don’t have family members in the same city to support them.
The Committee organisers tell The Indian Express:
“I remember one call from a young girl whose parents had tested positive in Pune and while her father was hospitalised, her mother was in home isolation. She was too weak to cook and the girl could not immediately come to Pune. Our tiffin service ensured that her mother got both meals daily during that period.”
Pune has reported a huge one-day spike of 12,836 fresh cases on Saturday, 17 April. There are 74,802 people recovering from COVID-19 in home isolation.
(With inputs from The Indian Express)
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