Sri Sathya Sai Annapoorna Breakfast Seva programme has been providing daily morning nutrition to five lakh children, across six thousand schools in seventeen States and three Union Territories, until the lockdown came into effect on 24 March, 2020 due to Covid-19. That was the time that the dedicated Sri Sathya Sai Annapoorna team embarked on providing support to the daily wagers, migrants and other needy families who were finding it hard to sustain a living during the lockdown. From March 26 to date, in the past 11 weeks, the Annapoorna team has provided over 31,000 ration relief kits to the needy and more than 20,000 meals have been served across eight states and two Union Territories.
Here are the details of the Covid-19 Support Activities undertaken across the country.
Karnataka
Five thousand grocery kits were distributed to needy families in Yelburga, Koppal District by the Honourable Former Chief Minister of Karnataka, Mr Siddaramaiah on June 3, 2020. During the first week of the lockdown, essential groceries were provided to 132 construction workers at Tubharahalli slum spread over two days. On April 23, Annapoorna volunteers in Whitefield reached out to 350 people from underprivileged pockets in the area and served them meal packets comprising vegetable rice and curd rice. On May 4, Annapoorna volunteers in Whitefield served about 170 families with provisions such as rice, lentils (dal), oil, ragi (finger millet), salt, soaps, etc. They were all families of migrant workers, living in slums near Kundalahalli and Tubharahalli area, who were unable to earn their daily wages due to the ongoing situation.
On May 2, 1000 relief kits were distributed to needy families in Ramanagara and Kanakapura by the dedicated team of volunteers. On May 6, they also provided support to 2,000 needy families in Kolar with relief kits containing monthly groceries. This initiative was conducted with the support of Prashanthi Bala Mandira Trust.
Grocery kits were also distributed in other areas of Bangalore like JP Nagar, Ramamurthy Nagar, Vinayaknagar, and RajaRajeshwari Nagar. 260 Grocery kits were distributed in Bantwal, Dakshina Kannada. 100 grocery kits were also distributed in Hubli, North Karnataka.
Telangana
The Annapoorna team in Hyderabad was apprised about a shortage of drinking water in a hospital at King Koti area in Hyderabad. The team quickly sprang into action and provided the hospital with drinking water in three phases: 100 cartons of drinking water on April 17, 1200 bottles of drinking water on May 1, and 1200 bottles of drinking water on June 5, 2020.
For eight days, from April 8 to April 15, the Annapoorna team cooked and distributed hot meals for the needy, homeless and hungry across many pockets of Hyderabad.
The volunteers have distributed food essentials to over 630 needy families affected by Covid-19 lockdown in Mahbubnagar and to 1,400 needy people in the Bhuvanagiri district in Telangana. The team has provided grocery kits to over 400 people in Siricilla district, more than 300 grocery kits in the Nizamabad district and over 400 grocery kits in the Siddipet district.
Tamil Nadu
To help migrant workers in Chennai during the nationwide lockdown, Sri Sathya Sai Annapoorna Trust along with Danirasa Foundation, in conjunction with a Tamil Nadu State Government initiative (Mafoi Foundation) served simple hot packed lunch to 1,500 workers for four days in the first week of the lockdown.
On April 9, grocery kits to over 540 daily wage workers were distributed by the Honourable Minister Mr K Pandiarajan in Avadi, Chennai. On April 12, the Annapoorna Trust collaborated with Danirasa Foundation, to distribute daily essentials to 300 needy families residing in villages surrounding the East Coast Road of Chennai. Ration Relief kits were also distributed in two phases during the months of April and May to 700 National Child Labour Project (NCLP) to families of school-students, at Sivakasi in Virudhunagar district.
The Trust in collaboration with Sri Sathya Sai Maruthi Seva Trust distributed 1,000 kits (i.e. 10 tons of food) containing Atta (5kg), potatoes (1kg), tomatoes (1kg), onions (1kg), chilli powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder (200 gm each), salt packets and toor dal to migrant workers in Coimbatore district, in four phases of distribution.
Andhra Pradesh
Annapoorna Trust serves breakfast daily to children studying in many rural government schools in Prakasam district, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, as well. In the first week of the lockdown, to ensure that needy children don’t remain hungry, Annapoorna volunteers distributed ration items to the parents of the 5,000 children. The volunteers in the Vizianagaram district have so far provided daily essentials to 163 needy families across ten villages in Vizianagaram district in Andhra Pradesh.
About 400 contract employees of Visakhapatnam airport were provided with provisions on April 21 by the Annapoorna Trust in collaboration with Prashanthi Bala Mandira Trust, Muddenahalli. The contract employees, who are now without wages in the current lockdown, have conveyed their gratitude for the timely help.
Uttarakhand
Upon the request of the Uttarakhand Government authorities, the Annapoorna team in Dehradun were supplying 150 packets of meals to the government control room for distribution to needy and homeless persons every day for lunch. From April 27 onwards, the efforts have been doubled by providing double the number of packets of meals to the government control room. This is to help the homeless both during lunch and dinner.
Jharkhand
Annapoorna volunteers distributed food relief kits to over 80 needy families on April 9 and to 85 needy families on May 6 in Jamshedpur. On May 28, the volunteers in Jamshedpur were on ground zero from 5:30 a.m at Tata Steel Foundation’s camp on National Highway 33 at Pardih chowk, and helped 504 migrants who crossed the camp during the five-hour morning session by providing them with a breakfast of hot upma and dry ration kits to be used by every member during the journey, until they reached the next camp or their homes. Annapoorna volunteers also worked along with volunteers from Tata Steel and People for Change in this service activity. 
Delhi
The Trust in collaboration with Rescue Foundation has reached out to 250 needy families across Delhi and provided them with daily essentials on April 29. Apart from groceries, personal care kits were also provided. This activity was conducted in the presence of authorities such as the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) and Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR). The Annapoorna team reached out to about 150 needy families in Greater Noida on April 20 and provided them with groceries and vegetables, to help them during this lockdown period.
Kerala
Annapoorna volunteers in Kannur, Kerala delivered 100 grocery kits to the houses of most needy families. Volunteers took the assistance of the Ward Councilors in identifying the needy families. For the homeless, food distribution is being done continuously. Food packets are bought by the volunteers from the community kitchen and distributed freely to the needy. The Annapoorna team of Alappuzha district has been rendering commendable service activities during the corona pandemic, including distribution of vegetable kits to many underprivileged families, and the distribution of financial assistance and essentials to the families of daily wage workers, and street vendors.
Assam
The Annapoorna team in Jorhat, Assam reached out to close to thirty needy families and provided them with grocery relief kits. Such families were chosen where most of them were unable to avail of government relief due to lack of ration cards. A few others were chosen owing to other factors such as an earning member being terminally ill or the family being run by a single mother with children, etc.
Puducherry
Annapoorna Trust in collaboration with Prashanthi Bala Mandira Trust distributed grocery kits to over 4,000 needy families including migrants in Puducherry after receiving a request from the Chief Minister of Puducherry for the same.
The weekly “Annapoorna – The Gift of Nutrition Covid-19 Support” Newsletters can be accessed at https://annapoorna.org.in/covid-19-newsletters/.
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