TRF’s disaster response grant provides COVID relief in RID 3170
RID 3170 is one of the first districts to receive the Disaster Response Grant of $25,000 from TRF within three days of applying for the grant. Even before the grant was approved the district engaged the Rotary Hubli Dharwad Disaster Relief Task Force to reach 40 PPE kits worth ₹80,000 to the Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Hubli, which has been converted into a COVID-19 specialty hospital. “One of the biggest challenges was finding a distributor with a pass to cross the toll gates,” says PDG Ganesh Bhat. Finally, a distributor was found and with the help of Rotary clubs along the route, the package was delivered to the hospital within 48 hours.The Task Force had donated 100 Shelter Kits to flood victims in Oct 2019.
The grant fund from TRF will be used to provide masks, PPEs, gloves, sanitisers, clean drinking water at government hospitals, and to transform marriage halls into temporary hospitals. DG Girish Masurkar thanked Rotary India’s senior leaders “for helping us with a speedy dispersal of the grant amount. “President of RC Kolhapur Suryakant Patil and AG Prakash Jagdale distributed food and essential items for stranded civilians and migrant workers in camps set up in the city.The Rotarians of RC Panaji Riviera volunteered to work with the city Corporation to deliver groceries for the residents of Panaji and distributed groceries to migrant labourers, slum dwellers, NGOs taking care of HIV positive children, street children and old age homes. Ration boxes each containing 5 kg rice, 4 kg atta, 1 kg each of dal, onions, potatoes, and 1ltr oil were distributed among 850 garbage plant workers in Panaji. The United Nations Development Programme, India office, had tweeted its appreciation for the club’s efforts.”
Similar boxes were distributed to 5,000 needy people over 10 days, in association with the Indian Red Cross Society, Goa Chapter. The club raised an additional ₹5 lakh for grocery distribution and donated 50 PPE kits to doctors at the Goa Medical College and the Department of Health Services. The club members contributed ₹1,000 each to the PM CARES Fund.
