Speaker Deepti Alurkar
On 29th April 2021, Deepti Alurkar of Multicultural Association of Community Empowerment Inc. (M.A.C.E) went live on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Radio Melbourne, conversation hour. She talked with host Richelle Hunt about the escalating Covid-19 Pandemic situation in Bombay India and the aid that Australians can provide to the people of India. Did you know that Victoria is home to the largest Indian community in in Australia? Well, we did not. Through ABC Radio Melbourne, RCS got to listen to stories of many local Victorians, their families and friends about the impact of the pandemic in India at that time. You can listen to the reply here.
In May, we invited Deepti to speak at our meeting about the growing impact of the pandemic situation in Bombay India. She informed us that more and more people were going without food due to lockdowns, job losses and business closures. Some members in our Rotary club and many within our local communities have family and friends affected by the pandemic. India too was calling for Global support to help with the rapidly deteriorating situation. This led to the Rotary Club Bombay Central (RCBC) requesting with Deepti assistance from RCS, help to raise funds for ventilators, food and other basic items for those in need. After much discussion with club members, the “Run for Rotary – Feed the Hungry” project was born.
On 19th June 2021 through our partnership with M.A.C.E, RCBC and RCS, our runners Nivedita Nagarale, her husband and many friends ran 21km around Lake Caroline. The other RCS members also joined in the run, walking and cheering them on. Through generous local support we raised A$6500, which was enough for 27,000 meals. Food was now important as RCBC had already received the ventilators through other avenues of support, locally and globally.
Through Rotary the funds were transferred to Rotary Bombay Central who matched our donation for the meals.
At our zoom meeting on 19 Oct 2021, Dr Vashani of RCBC, together with Deepti Alurkar of M.A.C.E gave us an update of the impact of our half marathon "Run for Rotary to Feed the Hungry" project that we held around Lake Caroline (Caroline Springs).
Dr Vashani told us that RCBC joined forces with Rotary Club of Bombay Queen City (RCBQC) to spread the word locally through local chat groups and word of mouth. RCBC further identified that the lower and middle class families were in need as they could not get support from the local Government, were not going to ask for help and in dire need (due to loss of jobs and income earning family members though the pandemic. Through this sharing, the support from RCS in Melbourne Australia was spread and donations kept rolling in to the “Feed the Hungry” program in Bombay. These additional donations resulted in a total of 74,000 meals and food parcels, that contained essential items such as rice and non-perishable food items provided to those in need. How amazing is that! We at RCS, could not have imagined the impact our run would have and are very proud of what became a fantastic combined effort.
We were told those that received the meals and food parcels, were very appreciative of the support we were able to provide, which equated to about three months’ worth of food and rations. To date support by many donors in Bombay continue to deliver and donate foods items after hearing about how our Rotary Clubs interacted to give to those in need.
Thank you once again to everyone that supported our Run for Rotary – Feed the Hungry project and for your generous financial support, we couldn't have done it without you!
Thank you especially to Dr Vashani, Deepti Alurkar of M.A.C.E for bringing us together, RCBC and RCBQC for coming together to collect and deliver food and parcels.
We indeed “Serve to Change” lives.
Rotary Caroline Springs (in D9800 Australia)
Donated items for the food parcels
Food Parcels being sorted
Feeding the Hungry
