On Friday, April 3, CJP undertook the preparation and delivery of the single largest consignment of relief supplies for low-income families in one day. With our partners at Prayas, Ek Koshish, we provided groceries and essential supplies for 1,489 families.
As you know, we have been working with Prayas, Ek Koshish, a humanitarian aid organisation working with slum-dwellers, to provide rations and essential goods to thousands of such families. These families are all located in low-income neighbourhoods in Ganeshnagar, Mhatarpada,Navjeet Nagar, Hanuman Tekdi, Bandivali Hill, Yadav Nagar, Bhagat Singh Nagar, Jeevan Nagar various Basti pockets in Andheri west, Jogeshwari and Goregaon.
The nationwide lockdown has adversely impacted the livelihood of daily-wage earners and people in low-income jobs. Families of thela-wallas, taxi and auto rickshaw drivers, vegetable vendors, carpenters, scrap purchasers, delivery boys, waiters, domestic helps, people with HIV/AIDS, transgender persons, sex workers, orphans and destitute people need our urgent help to tide over the COVID crisis. CJP has partnered with several like-minded organisations to provide ration and essential supplies to over 5,000 such families across the Mumbai Metropolitan region. We urge you to donate generously so that nobody goes to bed hungry.
Team CJP toiled hard all day sorting, packing and loading the relief supply packages into eight tempos and one large lorry. All social distancing and hygiene measures were followed to the letter throughout the process that took place at our Juhu office. Through the day as deliveries were made, and as temperatures begin to spiral to Mumbai’s April heat ridden figures, volunteers were tempted to go easy on the masks; some didn’t have them. However, CJP gently but firmly, asked them to keep them on and also distributed more to the tempo and volunteer team. To provide some sustenance to the volunteers CJP has procured biscuits. For its team that goes out to the procure supplies, high protein home cooked meals are provided.
Once the delivery happened to a packaging and distribution centre at Four Bungalows, the Prayas Team set about sorting, packaging and distributing the relief supplies.
But our efforts did not end there. The following day, CJP and Prayas also delivered rations to 194 more families of daily wage workers, migrant labourers, domestic workers and single mothers.
CJP paid for the transportation. We are also grateful to the Vahtuk Sena for providing us some vehicles for making the deliveries.
By April 5, some 350 ration kits were ready and the process is on. As soon as all kits are ready distribution will take place.
Related:
CJP against Hunger: Rations and essentials provided to migrant workers
CJP against Hunger: Essentials supplied to needy families from the North East