What the world needs right now is for us to be better human beings: Athiya Shetty

In an interview with HT, the actor shares her philanthropic plans for the needy in this lockdown

Athiya Shetty is in no mood to slow down during the lockdown period. She has tirelessly been working with an NGO, Save The Children, run by her parents. During the Covid-19 health crisis, the NGO has come up with an initiative to provide relief material to about 7,500 families across the country and she’s happy to be a part of it. “We’re providing an essential supply of grains and groceries, medical supplies and even direct cash transfers to families in parts of Mumbai, Pune and New Delhi,” she shares.

Actor Athiya Shetty believes in providing ration to the needy (Photo: Viral Bhayani)

But the actor believes that it’s more helpful providing ration to the needy than offering them money. She says, “If we give them money, they might not be able to get the specific product they require as many shops, warehouses or organisations are shut. Moreover, stepping out to buy things only violates the norms of social distancing.”

She says that they’ve been working towards helping children with special medical needs. Shetty elaborates, “A couple of weeks ago, we realised that some of the kids from our NGO have had cochlear implant surgeries and have to wear a hearing aid. That battery was running out and all the warehouses were shut, so we tried to reach out to different companies to try and get those specific batteries, and finally, we did get them last week.”

Social responsibility is at the top of her priority list currently. The Hero (2015) actor explains, “If you don’t help people now, I don’t know when you can. It just breaks my heart to see videos of migrants walking endlessly to go back home to their families. What the world needs right now is people helping, coming together, being united, just being better human beings and more supportive towards the vulnerable. At the end of the day, it will make you feel better and will make the person feel a hundred times better.”