Almost six months into the chaos of the global pandemic, life has come to a standstill for most. Unprecedented times, however, call for brave efforts. In times of vulnerable life and limited access to daily essentials, COVID warriors across the world have emerged as unsung heroes. Especially with the constant rise in positive cases in India, the efforts of these volunteers have reached an unmatched intensity.
BRT 53 has been an integral part of Round Table India for 42 years now.
Involved in various goodwill endeavours starting from relief activities during floods and cyclones to organising fundraising events for underprivileged children, they have received constant accolades and recognition for their humanitarian efforts. In addition to this endeavour, Bhubaneswar Round Table 53 is also associated with various other philanthropic ventures which include tying up with Speak for Animals (SFA) to facilitate food for cows, stray and abandoned dogs. BRT 53 is also involved in facilitating quality education to underprivileged children in the state and has built 7 schools in the past 7 years in different parts of the state.
Now, to aid the efforts of COVID warriors and ensure easy accessibility to basic amenities, Bhubaneswar Round Table (BRT) 53 has come forward with a relief initiative. As part of this initiative, the organisation has partnered with a leading beverage producer to distribute energy drinks to frontline warriors and people in dire need of daily essentials. So far, 7,35,000 beverage packets/bottles worth Rs. 87,00,000 have been distributed to major hospitals, municipal corporations, district administrations and people living in slums across the city.
Other humanitarian endeavours undertaken by BRT 53, across the areas of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, during the current global pandemic include distributing dry ration to 500 people in slums (in partnership with Robinhood Army) and 400 kids in an orphanage, donation of over 10,000 masks in a span of 10 days during the onset of Covid along with spreading awareness about the correct usage of mask to the people in the slums, distribution of 5,000 masks to municipality workers and 12,000 masks to local newspapers and donation of 20,000 sanitary pads during the lockdown in association with UN, UNDP and KISS foundation to women living in slums.
They also spearheaded the “Fight Against Coronavirus – Hunger-free Odisha” campaign with the aim of eradicating hunger from the state in times of this deadly virus. As part of this campaign, BRT 53 has set up live kitchens in Bhubaneswar, Puri and Cuttack, and has so far impacted the lives of 60,000 people across the state. Furthermore, they also felicitated more than 250 doctors and 15 hospitals across the state on Friendship Day 2020 to honour their relentless efforts during these unprecedented times.
While maintaining the precautionary guidelines meted out by the government, they have successfully delivered amenities to institutions, leading hospitals, NGOs, slums and other affected areas in parts of Odisha such as Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Dhankanal, Angul, Bhadrak, Boudh and many others. In addition to the relief efforts, BRT 53 is widening their avenue by organising regular sanitisation drives in the affected areas of the state.
“Our main objective is to give back to society, which is more important now than ever. With joint efforts, we hope to implement these distributions on a larger scale”Mr Akshat Saklani, Chairman of Bhubaneswar Round Table 53.
As the world is struggling to come out of the clutches of this global pandemic, organisations like the Bhubaneswar Round Table 53 are taking long strides in the right direction. They are also setting an excellent example for other institutions to address their social responsibility in times of absolute uncertainty that the country is going through. In addition to their COVID-related efforts, BRT 53 is also associated with a project for building a school of 3000 sq. ft. built-up area in Cuttack. This school building, which will include 4 classrooms, is part of an initiative to bring easy access to education for underprivileged kids.
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