Project Create Hope touches 835 beneficiaries
A multipurpose mega service project titled Create Hope reached out to over 800 beneficiaries from diverse fields at the Ayana Convention Hall, Vijayawada, on the sidelines of the two-day district conference of RID 3020 named Sneham (friendship) in January. RC Vijayawada Midtown hosted the Discon in which 1,200 Rotarians from around 90 clubs took part in the sessions and other events.
Recalling the genesis of the multiservice project, club president Sadhu Prasad says “as we are the single largest club with 800 members, our DG Subbarao Ravuri motivated us to take up big, impactful projects. Hence we conceived a project which will symbolically depict that each member has reached out to a beneficiary in multiple focus areas of Rotary.”
A 10-member mission team led by project chair Gangisetty Jagadeesh, in consultation with Prasad, went about taking care of minute details of handing over diverse utilities (₹25 lakh) ranging from mattresses, sewing machines to fertiliser sprayers, bicycles, medical support and iron boxes to 835 beneficiaries.
The project team identified the beneficiaries and was well-prepared to handle the “logistic challenges in arranging the items in a neat display and inviting all the beneficiaries at a spot for PDG Suresh Hari, RIPR for the Discon, to distribute them to the people,” says Prasad.
PDG Suresh Hari (5th from L) and Anita, DG Ritu Grover and to her left is project chair G Jagadeesh, after distributing sewing machines to women.
DGs Subbarao, Ritu Grover (RID 3240) and PDG Hari distributed mattresses to 500 girl students from government hostels; sewing machines to 50 women; fertiliser sprayers to 60 farmers; scholarships to 100 school and college students; bicycles to 40 girl students; financial grants to buy medicines and for treatment to 15 patients; iron boxes to 20 small merchants; and course-completion certificates to 50 students for a two-month training in DTP and MS Office. “Eight computer trainees have got jobs at the offices of our Rotarians, and the rest of them will also get placement offers soon,” says Prasad.
Sporting a big smile after receiving a bicycle, Y Sathya (17) said, “Walking to and from college took much of my time. Now with this cycle, I can focus on my studies and will have spare time to do other work at home.” A hosteler, Gurram Anusha (20) is happy that she can have a sound sleep on the cushy mattress compared to earlier when the “rough floor gave me a lot of discomfort.” Narasimha Rao, a farmer, is confident of saving his crops from pests and other rodents with the new fertiliser sprayer donated by Rotary.
Y Ravikumar, a patient at the government hospital, Vijayawada, thanked Rotary for providing him money to buy medicines for treatment. “He blessed all our members for reaching out to beneficiaries and said for him god has come in the form of Rotarians,” says Jagadeesh.
Rotary Foundation Day
On Feb 23, Rotary Foundation Day, the club gave scholarships worth ₹75,000 to 10 students; bicycles to seven girl students; sewing machines to seven women; and iron boxes to three persons to pursue a livelihood. A blood donation camp was held at the Icon Public School, Vijayawada, to mark World Rotary Day.
