Tri-Valley teens raise funds for SeemandhraForum Covid Foodbank

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe, nearly everyone’s lives were forced to change. Countries and states were scrambling to contain the spread of the virus. India, in particular, faced a far greater challenge due to its large population size, density, and high levels of poverty. The lockdown left hundreds of thousands of families without any income to support the most basic of needs: food, water, and electricity. In addition to this, the migrant worker crisis only exacerbated the issue causing many to walk 100s of miles to reach their rural homes. Seemandhra Forum (SAF) as an organization quickly saw these effects of the lockdown and were determined to help those adversely impacted in any way we can. In partnership with Sri GuruDeva Charitable Trust a local non profit based in South india, and local volunteers we planned a Covid-19 food bank to help the elderly and disabled who did not have a safety net.

As Youth leaders of SAF – Keerthana Katuru, Raghava Katuru and myself ( Akhila Bordag ) were in charge of social media marketing, fundraising and program coordination. A GoFundMe campaign was setup with tight deadlines due to the immediate nature of the need. The youth volunteers worked to share the news on social media platforms and also help keep the SeemandhraForum.org website up to date with the latest information on our projects and how our community could help. We picked up the phones and called friends and family to request support.

Thankfully, our efforts paid off as we were able to raise close to $4000 in a short period, helping us feed over 150 families for a month. These food packages consisted of rice, oil, onions, potatoes, flour, lentils, soap, masks and more. Local volunteers apportioned these packages in the Vijayanagaram district to families that do not have access to the rations provided by the government. Precooked Food packages were also distributed to many disabled individuals and migrant workers crossing the state border who were unable to obtain even a single meal per day. In Krishna district, volunteers of Seemandhra Forum have partnered with local farmers to purchase vegetables at significantly lower cost and then distribute them along with bottles of sanitizer and masks to senior citizens to limit the risk of COVID-19 possibly spreading.

We held a zoom meeting during the distribution process and were able to hear some of the stories of the people we were able to help. Their words spoke to the need of proper awareness of their situations as well as the need for organizations like ours and the Sri GuruDeva Charitable Trust as oftentimes these people do not have anyone to advocate for them.

As our programs came to an end, me and my fellow volunteers have reflected on the process. As this was all conducted during shelter in place we quickly learned how to handle online meetings and communication with another organization that runs in a completely different continent. And we, as volunteers, were reminded in every meeting about why we joined in the first place. We all have access to internet and technology and clean water and food so being able to use the privilege we have to help those in need seemed like a no-brainer. This project was immensely successful, and we could not be prouder of the teams that worked in India as well as our teams that worked here in the US. Being able to see the fruits of our labor and the gratitude others had for our work reminded us why it is so important to give back.

As we start planning our holiday season in this exceptional year, we are thankful for what we have and happy we are part of an organization like Seemandhra Forum and request you to consider making a donation to Seemandhra Forum or any other organization helping Covid impacted in our community and abroad.

Seemandhra Forum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is dedicated to the development of the Seemandhra region with an emphasis on education, health and women empowerment. To learn more about us, go to seemandhraforum.org and follow us on Instagram (@seemandhraforum), Twitter (@SeemandhraForum) and on Facebook @SeemandhraForum.