Two Mumbai teenagers help NGO raise funds for 1.3 lakh meals for the poor

With the Covid-19 outbreak leaving many in need of relief, some agencies like the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Indian Development Foundation (IDF) have found

With the Covid-19 outbreak leaving many in need of relief, some agencies like the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Indian Development Foundation (IDF) have found support coming from unexpected avenues. Two teenagers from Mumbai have helped IDF raise funds to mobilise 1.32 lakh meals for the needy in the city.

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IDF’s Meal to Heal program IDF has provided 1.5 million meals in the Mumbai metropolitan region (MMR) so far, said Dr Narayan Iyer, chief executive officer at IDF. “We got a lot of support from several youngsters in the city. We have been running our community kitchens for more than 100 days now. We have also provided meals and dry ration kits to 200 transgenders in Mumbai,” said Iyer.

In June, 16-year-old Rajveer Bothra took to Instagram and Whatsapp to talk about the Meal to Heal program, which provides dry rations and organises community kitchens. Bothra asked friends and friends to each donate Rs 600 to the program which would help IDF provide a week’s dry ration to a family or make 30 meals in one of their community kitchens. “Within 10 days, we raised around Rs 2 lakh,” said Bothra, a resident of Malad.

Ananya Dalmia, 17, also helped IDF by creating a presentation about its projects and approaching private companies in the city for donations. “With the help of my parents, I could reach out to several corporates,” said Dalmia, who is also volunteering with the NGO Magic Bus India Foundation for an upcoming fundraiser.

Both Dalmia and Bothra had previously volunteered with IDF. “Looking at what was happening, I felt I needed to do something. So I called IDF, which asked me to help them raise funds,” said Bothra.