We commend the generous donations that are pouring in from leading corporates in hundreds of crores of rupees, and people from the world of entertainment, the fashion industry and sporting personalities in our country also opening up their purse strings and reaching out. Many of the donations are from Foundations attached to corporate groups, and several have come in a combo of money and kind, whether it be hotel rooms and suites for quarantining patients, hospitals being made available or large swathes of equipment including ventilators being pledged.

But we also focus here on a growing lot of individuals who are doing grassroots work in and around Kolkata that needs to be highlighted. Wow! Momo has created a group of 10 “warriors” who form what they term the Yellow Army to reach out to the elderly by delivering groceries and medicines at their doorstep. Dressed in yellow tees, they travel by bike and have their designated territories marked out. They are also reaching out to the public directly through local clubs.

As for food, there is the joint effort from the Kolkata Chapter of National Restaurant Association of India along with friends and family to provide hot meals and food to daily wage earners through community kitchens that feed 500 people daily. And so we found popular eateries coming forward: Harsh Neotia’sAfraa providing cooked food in packets to 500 people, while some small restaurants have joined hands (Picadilly Square, Sanjha Chula and Khichdi Khichdi) to reach out to over 1,000 individuals and have also adopted an orphanage and a slum.

Then there is Mission—Feed the Hungry which targets 1,000 families a month. They distribute essential kits per family for 10 days costing Rs 1000 per kit. The items in the kit include rice, dal, salt, soap and oil. Another initiative Help Us Help Them, has been delivering rations to 100 truck drivers with the help of Swarnym Foundation. With help from the Border Security Force they will distribute food to more than 500 truck drivers near the Petrapole border. The organization runs a free school in Mallickpur, Hariharpur village where more than 700 underprivileged children get education. They are distributing 300 kits to families who do not have ration cards as well as the distribution of kits to daily labourers in Dhakuria.

But the interesting model is Kolkata Gives which brings donors and NGOs together in a unique match of fund raising and deployment. Their target at the moment is to reach 50,000 people in a matter of 30 days. It is a fascinating story where its trustees are businessmen and entrepreneurs. Our next story will focus on their reach and capabilities.

All of these organizations and NGOs appear to have one thing in common: reachable targets, do-able projects and plenty of personal commitment.The need of the hour when every minute counts.

But let’s get back to the giant corporations. The ones who have yet another motto: Charity Begins at Home, with their own employees. Many of us are regular users of Netflix, in these days of “confinement”, but did we realize that Coronavirus Relief Fund of Netflix is a hefty one, with most of the $100 million set to go towards laid-off production workers. This is also the amount that Warner Media is providing as a relief fund for their people who were working on productions across the corporation. NBC Universal has committed $150 million across their film, television and parks businesses to help employees and other workers tide over the period before normal operations start.

Companies in India are not far behind and we have learned about Cognizant promising employees at an associate level and below in India and the Philippines and additional payment of twenty five percent of base pay for April. This should benefit more than a lakh of employees in India.

There are newer benefits and initiatives coming up daily. Watch this space.

We commend the generous donations that are pouring in from leading corporates in hundreds of crores of rupees, and people from the world of entertainment, the fashion industry and sporting personalities in our country also opening up their purse strings and reaching out. Many of the donations are from Foundations attached to corporate groups,