What adds to the agony of COVID-19 is the level of helplessness a person experiences — with no resources available around, people suffer to the extent that is unexplainable.

Be it a COVID-19 patient or a frontline worker, or someone low on finances — the unavailability of resources, particularly food, is one of the major sufferings right now.

Several people have come forward to fight this and are offering free meals to needy and COVID-19 patients in their locations. Here are some of those good samaritans NextBigWhat salutes to!

‘Food for Kashmir’ by ‘Tiffin Aaw’

When Rayees Ahmad, co-founder, ‘Tiffin Aaw’, started getting calls from people outside Kashmir requesting to deliver food to their COVID-19 positive parents, the food entrepreneur decided to start this campaign, ‘Food for Kashmir’.

“We are a small startup, and it’s just been a year. People are calling us; we are giving food to people without asking for money. And among those people only, some get so emotional and tell us that they want to sponsor other COVID-19 positive family’s or patients,” said the co-founder, Nida Rayees.

The husband-wife duo delivers home-cooked meals to needy and COVID-19 patients, their families, and COVID-19 warriors for free. They have decided to keep this initiative going till the pandemic is not over.

Nisha Bhagat — The superwoman from Ranchi

This tribal woman running her own cafe in Ranchi decided to convert her business into service for the families suffering from COVID-19. She offers breakfast and meals to needy and COVID-19 patients for free.

It all began when Nisha got a call from a woman asking for home-cooked and deliverable ‘khichdi’. “She was ready to pay whatever…I was a bit surprised because people generally don’t order that simple food over the phone. Then the caller told me the sad part; everyone in that family had turned COVID-19 positive, and none of them was physically fit enough to cook food. I took the order and sent it out. That set me thinking why not provide free food to such families,” she said.

Nisha takes extra care of nutrition and cleanliness while preparing the meals and ensures that no one is denied food by her.

‘Covid Meals For India’ by Chef Saransh Goila

When the Goila Butter Chicken (GBC) founder received a DM on Instagram to help a girl with organising her meals who had lost her immediate family to Covid-19, it struck him hard.

“It’s heartbreaking. When you are stressed about finding hospital beds or oxygen for your near and dear ones or even grieving deaths in families, the last thing you want to worry about is what am I going to eat. There was a big gap here, and I knew I had to step in,” said Goila.

Along with the co-founder of Fastor, Karan Sood, he launched covidmealsforindia.com on April 25, 2021, to ensure that none of the affected or needy families sleeps empty stomach. The portal connects COVID-19 affected individuals with those willing to cook a meal for them for either free or nominal costs.

‘Feed The Poor’ by D Surender Babu

“We often neglect the people who live in rural areas during the time of crisis. The fact is that they are the ones who are most affected. People affected by coronavirus in villages do not have enough financial support, so I decided to provide them with minimal facilities. People can check out feedthepoor.in and then fill in their details as to what they want to donate,” said the Hyderabad man.

He runs the web portal, ‘Feed The Poor’, to aid people in the rural areas by providing food and medicines. He and his team often rely on donations to fight the crisis.

The superwomen of Patna

Anupama Singh and her sister Neelima, along with their mother, Kundan Devi, are becoming the messiahs for those infected in the city. While Anupama and her mother cook at home, sister Neelima ensures safe delivery to COVID-19 affected families. 

“Recently, a member of my family tested positive for the virus. We realised how it is difficult for virus-infected people to get meals while living in self-isolation. Hence, we started serving free food packets to the homes of coronavirus-infected patients living in self-isolation as a service to humanity at our own cost,” said Anupama. “We have dedicated all our savings, which were kept for marriage, anniversaries, birthday functions, purchasing clothes and doing other household work for the next one year, to continue serving free foods to the COVID-19 patients.”

Yes, the fight is long, but people are fighting — and ensuring that no one faces it alone. NextBigWhat salutes these less known heroes! #CovidWarriors

How are you doing your bit? Share with us, and we will share it with the world — because every story deserves to be heard!

ALSO Read: Triplet siblings raises over $280,000 for medical supplies in India!

India is severely hit due to the unprecedented daily surge in cases during the second wave of COVID-19. The healthcare infrastructure is being subdued and has been stretched to the saturation point.  From hospital beds to medical oxygen to ambulances and crematoriums, all resources are exhausted to maximum capacity at this point.

Personally and with the help of organizations and volunteer groups, many are coming forward to help their local communities, as India struggles to lead a normal life due to the COVID-19 crisis.

To win this battle, people from all age groups are coming forward to contribute, assist and help in every possible way. Needless to say, ambulance drivers are seen working round the clock to offer their services to families of COVID-19 patients and victims.

 

To prove that all of us are in this battle together, an autorickshaw driver in Bhopal has inspired us with his story of how he converted his three-wheeled vehicle into a small ambulance, with an oxygen cylinder attached to it. The autorickshaw turned ambulance has an oximeter to measure the oxygen levels of the patients and other medical supplies. 

Mohammad Javed Khan, a 34-year-old autorickshaw driver knew he had to help when he saw people piggy-backing their parents who contracted the virus to hospitals as they were unable to afford an ambulance.

Khan, who belongs to the city of Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh sold his wife’s jewellery to convert his autorickshaw into an ambulance. 

“A critically ill patient cannot be brought to the hospital without oxygen support. So, I thought, why not turn my three-wheeler into an ambulance. It’s not as spacious as an ambulance, but it can surely save lives,” Khan told AFP,  quoted by Mint. 

Madhya Pradesh has reported 12,236 fresh COVID cases on Tuesday taking the tally to 6,12,666, while Bhopal reported 1,673 new cases. Like other Indian states, Madhya Pradesh is also currently witnessing a shortage of medical oxygen, beds, and crematoriums as well.

Khan learned how to safely supply the medical oxygen gas to patients and use an oximeter. The oximeter and the oxygen cylinder were indeed donated by a donor.

 

“I see young people struggling without medical oxygen. Even when they call ambulances, the ambulances are charging around Rs.5,000-10,000 ($70-140). How will a poor person be able to afford it? Especially during this pandemic when most people don’t have an income?”, added Khan.

His dedication to helping coronavirus-stricken patients have won many hearts. After his story became viral, many people have requested him to continue his selfless service until the end of the pandemic. He also said that many have offered donations.

Kudos to Khan and many others who are on the front to save lives. His story sends a clear message to people so that they are inspired to follow the same. 

It is like any other day for Vishranti Jadhav. After finishing her daily chores, she heads for work. She is a teacher at Ketkipada BMC School in Borivali. COVID-19 has completely changed her life and the way she used to teach kids.

But what remained the same was the josh, the temperament and the dedication to influence people’s lives in a better way.

Hence she, along with 500+ other civic teachers, joined hands together to fight the deadly coronavirus in her own way!

“I cannot find a bed for a patient!”
“Help us locate an ICU bed!”
“Where can I get the vaccine near my residence?”

These are some of the queries the 45-year-old comes across nowadays. And as mentioned, she is not the only one.

As of this writing, 547 civic school teachers across the city are working at BMC’s war rooms to assist COVID-19 patients!!

As the summer vacation has already started for schools, all the civic teachers have been assigned to COVID-19 related work.

These teachers are working under the guidance of medical and administrative professionals and are generally the first point of contact between COVID-19 patients and the healthcare system. And they are responsible for everything — from managing angry and hopeless citizens to pacifying struggling patients and their families to responding to calls filled with gratitude — they are responsible for acknowledging every single call.

“Some of the calls really shook us, especially when the callers would almost beg to locate an ICU bed for their loved ones, and we were helpless. We were noting down all requirements and connecting them with vacant places wherever possible,” said Priya Sawant, another civic teacher from Ashokwan Municipal School in Borivali.

“The wife tested positive, but since she had absolutely no symptoms, the doctor asked the couple to remain home-quarantined. The woman was really stressed after knowing all other things happening around, and her husband asked me to talk to her to calm her down. I was tense thinking if I would really help her calm down, but after speaking to her, she felt relieved,” said Vishranti Jadhav, who did not fail to provide mental support to her callers.

“This was a completely different experience where we felt a great sense of social connection as we helped callers meet their needs or resolve their Covid-19 disease or vaccine-related queries!”

said another teacher, Krishna Yadav.

“They have the experience of handling a class full of children from different psychological backgrounds, and it has really helped at COVID-19 war rooms. A total of 547 teachers are appointed to do this work,” said BMC’s education officer, Mahesh Palkar.

In a city that is one of the most active hotspots of COVID-19, several teachers are working every single day without expecting anything in return. They are posted in the war rooms for a 15-day duty chart on rotation for almost four to five hours daily.

There is something called ‘going beyond work calls’, and these teachers are going beyond their assigned roles every day. In a time when people are struggling for a hospital bed and world’s most common chemical, oxygen, even an “everything will be fine” sounds nothing less than a bright light!

A warm tribute and salute to these people who we do not really think about in our daily lives — every bit matters — and every story deserves to be heard! #CovidWarriors

ALSO READ: Meet the samaritans providing meals to needy and COVID-19 patients for free!