Moved by the predicament of the roadside dwellers and the poor suffering from hunger, three women in Cuddalore have joined hands with a non-governmental organisation and stepped in to provide food to the hapless sections in the town.
R. Kumudhavalli, a first year LLB student of Government Law College in Villupuram along with her friends, M.R. Hamsini, an Optometrist and J. Banumathy have been daily providing food packets both at noon and at night to around 300 people who have been unable to feed themselves during the current pandemic situation.
The trio have been coordinating with Jose Mahesh, founder of Ignite Trust, a non-governmental organization whose work projected in social media had inspired Kumudhavalli and her friends to come forward and help them.
The youngsters have been cooking and distributing lunch and dinner every day to around 300 homeless and underprivileged in Cuddalore town.
According to Jose Mahesh, “About 15 youngsters are part of this initiative. Ignite Trust started this initiative last year when the first phase of the lockdown kicked in and a lot of people have been encouraging us by sponsoring for foodgrain packets.”
“With hotels and eateries remaining closed due to lockdown restrictions, a number of homeless have been without food. We have been providing them with home cooked lunch and dinner. Our focus is to make Cuddalore beggar-free.” he said.
According to Kumuthavalli, preparation of food begins as early as 4 a.m. The food is prepared by Banumathi and her family members and arranged in packets.
Later the trio along with Mahesh distribute the packets to abandoned elderly, homeless and the underprivileged at the bus stand, railway station, Government General Hospital, Thirupadhiripuliyur, Semmandalam and other suburbs of Cuddalore.
“Initially, we were dissuaded by our parents not to venture out of homes to take up this work particularly when the number of positive cases was on the rise in the district.”
“But we felt that if we remained indoors who would take care of such homeless people. This thought drove us to do work and now we can see the happiness in the eyes. This makes us happy too,” says Hamsini.
Mahesh said that Ignite Trust had also been rescuing homeless and the mentally ill wandering along the streets.
Last year, as many as 180 people were rescued and accommodated in old age homes in Cuddalore and Villupuram district.
The Trust has rescued seven persons so far this year, he said.
