When the COVID 19 pandemic struck, our team got busy in repatriation of 59 volunteers back to their respective countries. Right after achieving this successfully, we realised that we needed whole new skills to get actively involved in this crisis. So we started being creative and started planning our next action which kept us all busy and positive in this difficult and uncertain time.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected Indians all across the country, particularly those who depend upon their daily wages to make ends meet. The lower income and migrant communities at Moodugillyaru and Baikady in Kundapura taluk have been some of the hardest hit by the pandemic and are in dire straits during this time.

FSL India has been actively involved in the welfare of the local migrant and other lower income communities for the last 20 years. Being aware of the difficulties faced by these impoverished communities, we raised funds to bring relief to them through our well-wishers, volunteers, families and friends. Thanks to the generous contributions received, we chalked out a plan of action to begin our relief activities in and around Kundapur, on 7^th May 2020.

There was a flurry of activity at our Kundapur Centre. Our team contacted the local authorities and collected the required permission letters. The Panchayat President, along with their COVID-19 task force offered to assist with the distribution of the ration kits. A list of the beneficiaries was prepared and checked. 

The Bobbarya temple priests at Moodugilliyaru very kindly agreed for the distribution to take place in the temple’s premises. The President and members of the local youth group pitched in, visited the beneficiaries and informed them to come along with their Aadhar cards to the temple, at the given time and date.

Food supplies were ordered from Sai Traders, Kundapur and packed into ration kits for ease of distribution. Each ration kit consisted of rice, dal, palm oil, onions, sambhar, rasam, turmeric and tea powders, jaggery, atta, garlic, salt, sugar and potatoes.

Now, it was time for our Kundapur team consisting of Venkatesh, Dinesh, Nagaraj, Shalini and Sharavathi to swing into action. At 7:30 am, the ration kits were picked up and loaded into the vehicles. As we had decided to bring relief to 2 communities, Venkatesh, Dinesh and Nagaraj left for Moodugilliyaru, Shalini and Sharavathi to Baikady.

At Moodugilliyaru, our team ensured that the distribution was conducted in an orderly fashion. The Kota Panchayat’s President Vanitha Sridhara Acharya, Moodugilliyaru’s youth club members led by Praveen, were actively involved in the distribution.

We ensured that proper social distancing was maintained by chalking out circles for each person to wait in line, face masks were worn by all the volunteers and sanitisation was part of the precautionary measures taken by our organisation.

The response from the community was very positive. All the 23 families who received their ration kit conducted themselves with dignity and expressed their gratitude to our team for their timely support.

At Baikady, Shalini and Sharavathi distributed the ration kits to 4 families of the tent community.

The other 25 families who make up this little community have returned to their villages and we will cater to their needs once they are back in Baikady. Here also, the families received their ration kits with much gratitude and thanksgiving.

In addition, the Panchayat President appealed to our organisation for relief to some middle level income families, handicapped people and, orphans, approx. 50 beneficiaries, which we are very happy to comply with, in the coming days.

All in all, it was a very fulfilling exercise and our team felt a sense of pride that they were able to provide support to the needy people of Moodugilliyaru and Baikadi. Once again, FSL India would like to thank our kind-hearted and generous donors for their contributions, without which we could not have provided this timely support.

This is just the first of our relief activities. Watch this space for more updates very soon!