These last few days have changed me as a person. I have always been an extremely emotional and a passionate being. A feeling of immense gratitude and humility has been added to that by talking to these wonderful people who are doing something extraordinary in these times, without giving a thought about the risks involved. They are working at odd hours, going out of their way to provide food, essentials and above all, a feeling of hope to the people who are braving these unprecedented times. Times which have literally brought the world to its knees. Hats off to these people, who are choosing to look beyond the ordinary.

 
 

Manika Badhwar

Rasoi on Wheels

Manika turned into a social worker seamlessly, after being an HR professional for years. It was a path that paved it’s own way or maybe, it was the chosen one for her. A calling, as she says. She started “Rasoi on wheels” five years back, which she registered as an NGO in due course. With her hard work and consistency, she went on to feed 1500 people within no time, starting from 50 people. This was possible only by working together and she swears by her dedicated team for this and to her journey forwards.
 
 
 
Then, Covid happened and initially, she shut down her operations. The guilt of not doing anything led her to start her operations and she did 15000 meals on the first day itself, which was unimaginable. By the 44th day, along with with her dedicated team, she had done more than 8,00,000 meals. Rasoi on wheels has provided 18,000 ration kits which have served 72,000 families. They have also provided masks, safety kits and hygiene kits which were sent to them by many generous souls who are working in tandem with her.
 
She has a message and a learning to share. She believes that right now is the time to work as ISR, which is “Individual Social Responsibility.” She feels that these times have led her to count her blessings and be immensely grateful to the Universe. According to her, it is also a time for a DIY. Just Do it yourself.
 
 

Lend A Hand, join me and sponsor dry ration for people affected by COVID-19
COVID-19 and the measures to keep it at bay has unfortunately thrown a major population out of work. This is the time to show our solidarity and share our privileges.
Sponsor a dry ration kit for one family @750 INR. Donate in multiples of 750 INR and be guardian angels to as many families as you wish to.
A typical dry ration kit that can support a family of 4-5 members for a period of 10 days consists of the following:
Rice – 5 Kg
Aata – 5 kg
Dal – 2 kg
Mustard Oil – 1 L
Salt – 1 kg
Sugar – 1 kg
Haldi – 200 gms
Mirchi – 100 gms
Dhania Powder – 200 gms
Chai Patti – 500 gms
Biscuits

Read more about the campaign here

For fund transfer through PayTM. Click Here

You can also do a bank transfer to the below mentioned account:
Account number: 2223330002984405
Account name: Rasoi On Wheels Foundation
IFSC code: RATN0VAAPIS

 

Shibal Bhartiya

Vision Unlimited

Shibal has been running a low key food bank, as she chooses to say. An eye doctor herself, she has also been holding free eye camps to help people in unheard of places. When the Covid crisis happened, she and her partner, Grashmi were the first responders to the highway crisis. They escalated their work immediately and gave out water bottles and biscuits to the migrant labour walking along the highway in this heat.
 
 
 
 
Along with this, she helped setting up the telemedicine helpline.This helpline number, 1095 works across Haryana to get access to any kind of medicines. Her venture, Vision Unlimited has partnered with the community kitchen being run by Moonshine Ventures to help deliver cooked meals to government shelters.
 
With the help of the donations from her friends, her venture has been able to provide these massive quantities to people: 6000 kgs of raw rice and lentils,1000 kgs of detergent powder, 6000 cakes of soap, 2000 masks, 500 notebooks and pencils and around 500 bars of chocolate to the street children. They have also given 100 kgs of onions and potatoes, about 50 kgs of cooking oil and miscellaneous spices.
 
Shibal believes that there is no limit to doing what you have to do. Just be at it and the rest will happen automatically.
 
 
 
Vision Unlimited is founded by Dr Shibal Bhartiya (eye surgeon at Fortis) and Grashmi Jivani (Sports management professional).Dr Shibal’s  14 year old son, Aradhya Bhartiya (DPS, RK Puram) is supporting them.
 
Here are some links to highlight their work 
 
Their work has also got featured  in this newspaper article 

Sameer Dhar

Nowhere Brewpub and Terrace

 
Sameer started making food from the 28th of March itself from his restaurant facility. On the first day, he served food to 300 people. He went upto 3000 by the 4th of April and since the 5th of April, he has been serving 35,000 plus meals everyday. He has served more than 13 lakh meals till now, something that is no small a feat. His employees work shifts and are doggedly at it.
 
The logistics is managed by the MCG. Procurement of the raw material and the packaging etc.,is done by him. They are supplying this food to 18 wards of Gurgaon. Due to the heat, everything has to managed like clockwork. The shelf life is low, so the lead time has to be precise. Of the total demand, 45% is catered by him.
 
Multinationals, friends, patrons of Nowhere Brewpub, RWA’s and above all, the residents of Gurgaon have contributed with open hearts and are continuing to do so. His personal contribution is extremely high to this cause. 65 people work in three shifts to make this work. MCG provides them with regular checkups and sanitization.
 
Sameer believes that it is best to take one day at a time. The stocks deplete and then, are refilled. One has to just keep going. That is the only way forward for sure.
 
Please click here to contribute and join this noble cause
 
Here is the media coverage of the great work that they have been doing 
 
 

Rashmi Choudhury

Rendezvous with Rashmi

 

A name to reckon with in the world of photography, Rashmi started posting pictures on social media of how she had cooked and served meals. She did 100 meals on the first day and the second day, right out of her kitchen. This led to a campaign of sorts, with many joining in, not only from her condominium but from others as well. Soon enough, a Google spreadsheet came into place and a distribution plan was made . Villages were designated and the process became foolproof and started to run on auto mode.
 
Additionally, she got in touch with seven other condominiums across Gurgaon and many independent houses in various areas to source meals, make ration packets for distribution and create comprehensive, detailed sheets to take this forward efficiently. She became the organizer for this all in no time.
 
 
Not one to stop at this, she started another campaign and that was a fundraiser for Milaap.org, taking the help of social media again to garner support and visibility. Rashmi believes that each one of us has the potential to do much more than we can imagine.
 
 

Thanks to all who are working relentlessly to help all those in need in the current situation