E-Paper
Pune’s Shedge wada comes forward to help the homeless during Covid-19 crisis
Men and young children of the wada contribute to the initiative by taking part in the distribution of the food packets
In the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, many social organisations, NGOs and individuals have come forward to help the poor and needy. One such group resides in the old Shedge wada in Shukrwar peth area, the group has been cooking and distributing food packets to the homeless for over a month.
“All this started in the first week of April when we residents thought of cooking food and distributing it to the needy. Accordingly, we started the work. Residents in the wada and other well-wishers contributed funds and raw material to us. And we started cooking food daily and around 150 food packets are being distributed on a daily basis from last one-and-a-half months,” said Kalpana Shewale, a resident of Shedge wada.
The property in Shukrwar peth is 70-years old and currently, houses 15 families with around 50 residents. Women, young and elderly have all contributed to the food distribution since its inception. The funds have been crowd-sourced by Shedge wada residents and also by friends and well-wishers.
“The cooking of rice, vegetable and chapatis begin at around 7am. Women cut vegetables, clean, and prepare before cooking. At 8.30am the actual cooking starts, we cook masala rice one day and vegetable and chapatis on alternate days. Once the food is ready, we along with the children in the wada pack the food. Finally, at around 10am the food packets are distributed to beggars, homeless and needy people on Bajirao road,” said Lata Bhekare, a resident of the wada.
The team of women who prepare and cook the food daily consists of Kalpana Shewale, Lata Bhekare, Hirabai Shilamkar, Rekha Jadhav, Sulochana Aadhav, Indu Jadhav, Rohini Sarde, Baby Mohite, Rajashree Bhagwat and Savita Kadam.
Men and young children of the wada contribute to the initiative by taking part in the distribution of the food packets.
