Migrant labourers, stuck far from their home towns, are worst-hit by the nationwide lockdown. Most of them are daily wage earners, and they rely heavily on governments for survival.
Moved by the stories of their hardships, a high school student from Kochi has offered them a helping hand without stepping out of her house.
Anaanya Mathew, who just completed Class 10 from Global Public School in Kochi, teamed up with her classmate Hafeez Mohammed and her parents to launch a fundraising campaign - Lighten the Load - on a crowdfunding website and collected Rs 3,60,000 in just a week. Till the time of publishing this story, the group has collected Rs 3,90,000.
"The initial plan was to collect money for just four days. We were doubtful of raising even Rs 50,000. But the positive responses surprised us. So we have decided to keep it running," Anaanya said.
The money was not directly disbursed among the labourers. Instead, Anaanya and her friends gave out kits with these essential goods.
Bathing soaps - 2
Washing bar - 1
Masks - 2
Sugar – 1 packet
Tea – 1 packet
Towels - 2
The kit also includes biscuits and chocolates.
On Sunday, they distributed 500 kits in various migrant labour camps in Ernakulam with the help of a charitable organisation, Nanma Foundation.
The students' group has decided to include pulses, masalas in the kits to be distributed next week.
You can also join this drive. Make your contributions at: https://milaap.org/fundraisers/support-Anaanya-Mathew
