Blind Cricket Association provides food and medical supplies to the underprivileged amid COVID-19 crisis

With the COVID-19 pandemic wreaking havoc in India, many firms and organization have come forward to help the needy ones in this challenging time. Many members of the cricket fraternity have also contributed to the noble cause. While Virat Kohli and his wife Anushka Sharma raised over eleven crores in the COVID-19 relief fundraiser, Hanuma Vihari made a team of 100 volunteers to provide citizens oxygen concentrators, hospital beds and other supplies. Now, Blind Cricket Association also stepped up amid the crisis.

Cricket Association for Blind in India (CABI) and its parent body Samarthanam trust have put cricket on the backfoot for now and have come together to help the citizens. They have provided safety kits, oxygen concentrators and many such supplies to needy ones alongside providing cooked meals to underprivileged people. Founder of Samarthanam Trust and President CABI, Mahantesh had described the work by them.

Samarthanam trust and CABI helping people with essential supplies

“Samarthanam constituted a Covid-19 task force. We started providing cooked meals and till date have provided 4 lakh meals since the pandemic started. We have got lot of calls from the underprivileged for ration and medical help, we have distributed 50,000 dry ration kits till now to take care of them across India,” Mahantesh was quoted as saying by Times Now.

Apart from migrant labourers and underprivileged families, the help was also extended to frontline workers. “We have supported frontline workers like Anganwadi, police officials, doctors and nurses by providing them with more than 65,000 health and safety kits and even provided 30 ICU beds in hospitals in Delhi and Bangalore,” Mahantesh elaborated further.

With the help of some prominent corporate organizations, Samarthnam has raised close to 20 crores to provide these relief materials. The trust further focuses on raising resources, providing 500 oxygen concentrators and extending help to the people in rural areas.

With lakhs of cases registering every day, the second strain of the COVID-19 virus has indeed brought India to a standstill. The deadly disease had also forced BCCI to suspend the 2021 edition of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. Even, the T20 World Cup is in danger, which is slated to take place later this year in the subcontinent nation.