As the entire country is mourning the death of our former Chief Minister, day-to-day life across Tamil Nadu has come to a standstill. In the state capital, the public is catching the last glimpse of their former leader who is better known as the iron lady, before she is buried today.
As a mark of respect, small, medium and large eateries across our city have closed their kitchens and have downed their shutters. In the midst of all this, several heart warming stories have emerged. City-based NGO, Jeeva Shanthy Trust is organising food drives to feed the needy who are struck for food at hospitals and to police personnel deployed for security reasons.
“The first food drive was hosted this morning and as a part of this drive, we distributed 2,500 food packets. The food is cooked in our open kitchen that is located in Karamadai. We are also cooking food that will be distributed this evening. About 5,000 food packets will be distributed this evening,” Ashraf of Jeeva Shanthy Trust says.
About 40 volunteers are involved in cooking and distributing food. In the morning food packets were distributed in and around the Government Hospital (GH) and also to the men and women in uniform. In the evening, the volunteers of Jeeva Shanthy Trust will distribute food packets in several pockets in our city. This food distribution we are told will continue for the next three days and this trust has plans of reaching out to at least 15,000 people through their massive food drives.
Jeeva Shanthy Trust was established in the year 2000 in Coimbatore by Dharmadarshi N.C.Nanaiah. This trust is inspired by the ideals and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi and great spiritual masters of India and the world. The projects and activities of this trust are aimed at supporting rural people who are in need of food, education, health care, shelter and clothing, emotional and moral support. The various projects of this trust have supported over 4,000 children, 8,000 women and covers about 41,000 villagers.