Coronavirus Pune: When citizens united for acts of kindness

The current crisis has brought together many compassionate people to help the needy. In Pune too, residents of several societies are doing their bit to play good samaritans during this time of a pandemic. 

A small group of residents at Dhanashree Angan Co-operative Society, Undri Pune, have united to help the needy by cooking and distributing food during the coronavirus lockdown period.  

“Initially, we had doubts and apprehensions about whether the food would reach the people who need it. With so many NPOs and NGOs carrying out similar activities in and around Pune city, we wondered if our initiative would make any difference,” says Parinita Masurkar, one of the team members.

However, they found out that a small community of people in Navale Nagar and Holkarwadi — Mayur Park, were looking out for support. That’s when the team decided to get their act together.

Rahul and Payal Gupta, owners of a food packaging unit, offered their place to be converted into a makeshift kitchen, along with taking over responsibilities related to the procurement of raw produce and delivery of the prepared food packets.

While hospitality professionals and husband-wife duo Raghunath and Parinita Masurkar took charge of the food production planning and execution, Nirav, JheeUpadhyayay, and Neville supported food production and packaging operations.

“A fundraising appeal was also sent to friends and family via social media, and the response was overwhelming. Society members donated gas cylinders, grains, and pulses, and volunteered to help as well,” says Parinita.

Currently, the ‘Food for All’ team is providing 150 lunch packets. It is committed to serving the community until the situation reaches normalcy.