In emergencies that loomed our country, a pandemic of such a large scale had called upon emergency lockdowns, not once or twice, but many times with the hope that the number of active cases will decrease. The most celebrated and occasion that was looked forward to in 2020 was Independence Day. This day also saw a few limitations on the celebration front. Guidelines were given out to follow preventive measures while organising various programmes for this day. For the first time, military bands from the Indian tri-services performed to thank the COVID-19 frontline workers as a gesture of appreciation and gratitude.
This year we will be celebrating the 75th year of Indian Independence Day. And this time too we will be restricted with our celebrations though the vaccines have been rolled out. Though the virus hasn’t dampened our spirit of festivity, we have accepted the new norms to celebrate the patriotism in us. Giving or helping people in need, has become a part of our lives. We are helping each other in ways that we wouldn’t even have thought of. Akshaya Patra has gone beyond its normal routine of feeding children from challenging socio-economic backgrounds who study in Government and Government-aided schools.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Akshaya Patra Foundation has moved beyond serving mid-day meal beneficiaries; it started the COVID-19 relief feeding service to feed the needy populations of India. As a part of this programme, cooked meals and grocery kits were distributed to marginalised communities of India.
As children were kept out of school and they did not have access to their daily source of nutritious meals – mid-day meals, they had started becoming visibly weaker. To continue serving these school children, this Indian NGO started the Happiness Kits Programme. With this initiative, the health, immunity, hygiene and education of children would be supported.
As the second wave of the pandemic hit the nation with full force, the hunger crisis also worsened. Akshaya Patra also decided to fight back hunger for the sake of people’s survival. It started distributing Family Happiness Kits to vulnerable families of four, to help them survive with healthy food for 15 days.
What’s inside the Family Happiness Kit?
Several people from different sections of society had started facing food shortages. Akshaya Patra decided to lend them a helping hand. Thus, it provided food assistance to Homeless mothers who were living without their husbands and artisan communities who had taken a bad hit in this testing time.
This Independence Day is not very different from what it was last year. The only difference maybe is that last year it was the pandemic that devastated the lives of the needy and this year it is a year of survival with the second wave.
Make this Independence Day, a special one in your life. 75 years ago, it was a struggle for freedom while today is a struggle for life. Donate online to Akshaya Patra to relieve the marginalised and vulnerable populations from this struggle for food.
Celebrate humanity, celebrate togetherness
