OUR Projects
We are beyond grateful for the time, effort, and service our volunteers have devoted in helping us with various projects during the time of the pandemic. Below we have captured their helping hands in bettering our Greater Atlanta community.
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Help The Food Project
Below are some images capturing our volunteers’ efforts toward this project. Scroll down to read more about our food project and helping hands.
The current global pandemic has created obstacles making life tough and unpredictable for many people. DPLMF has been working alongside Sewa and Food4Life to help combat the after-effects of the economic impact the pandemic has caused. In Dr. Ramachandra Parnerkar’s book, Poornawadi Economics, he explains how our world produces enough food to feed each and every human being, though due to market inefficiencies, that food is not distributed evenly. We observed that during this pandemic, the economic aftermath was producing a greater disparity since people have limited access to food sources due to stores closing. A growing number of families were finding it difficult to put food on their tables and many hospital workers were putting their lives on the line in an effort to defeat the virus. We consider ourselves grateful with what we have and to be able to spare some of our time and money to aid our fellow Georgians who are less fortunate.
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Initially, the group and area we were working in was small, but social media worked its magic to spread word about our project. As our message dispersed, we were getting welcomed responses from many people throughout the country. People from other states began asking if they could donate to our cause, assisting with grocery costs. Other Georgians wanted to support through helping in cooking the meals, so we would order the groceries and have them delivered to their homes. Everything from aluminum foil and pans to oil would be delivered at volunteers’ doorsteps. These volunteers needed to make sure they had enough supplies to make enough meals for up to 80 people at a time. This meant lots of communication and coordination with those who were in charge of ordering ingredients and supplies from grocery stores well ahead of time to ensure smooth operation. After meal preparation, these meals had to be delivered by 11a.m., which meant that meal preparation volunteers began their duties early in the morning in order for driving volunteers to pick up and later drop off at its destination. Our drivers were mostly teenagers, who despite taking classes, were able to help us collect different dishes, transport them to hospitals, or hand them out to our fellow Georgians in need. They had to be mindful in making each delivery safely and cautiously as they came into contact with multiple people.
Above our volunteers are pictured packaging meals and delivering them to their designated locations.
Our logistics team worked to coordinate the large-scale details regarding which meals were going to which destination and setting up times and locations for pick-up and drop-off. They were tasked with sending each volunteer a reminder about what their responsibilities were for the day, and each day, reminders were sent ensuring volunteers knew what item they were preparing, the times it had to be sent, and where it was going.
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Through a strong and supportive chain of donors, cooks, and transporters, we have been able to successfully provide hundreds of meals for less fortunate individuals in the Metro Atlanta area. The volunteers were able to use their time and effort in helping more people, and we were able to lend a hand to healthcare heroes and underprivileged members of the Greater Atlanta community. With this, anyone is able to contribute to making a difference and donations can be made via PayPal or credit/debit card using the link on the homepage of our website. This project would not have been possible without the tremendous service of our donors and volunteers.
Written by: Anushka Kadam (Volunteer)
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Masks for homeless
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Following efforts from DPLMF’s food project, high schooler Priyal Sarda contributes in a different way to help during the pandemic: making masks to donate for the homeless. During the process of delivering meals, it is especially important to ensure the safety, health, and wellbeing of those around us. In hand-making and donating these masks, Priyal aids the food distribution process and contributes to making the community safer, healthier, and more aware. Thanks to all volunteers devoting their time to help in unique ways.
Written by: Avanti Upad (Volunteer)
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