Impressed by the initiative of the Kalamasserry Janamaithri Police to serve free lunch to the destitute living in the street hit hard by the 21-day nationwide lockdown, YMCA Kalamasserry has come forward to support the programme by supplying free meals.
To begin with, the organisation has committed to deliver 50 meal packets on Thursday and further supplement it if need be.
“I found the report in The Hindu about the initiative and was really touched following which I straight away contacted the police station asking them what kind of support they need. They asked for 50 meals for Thursday, which I agreed to in consultations with the board members of YMCA,” said Johnson K. Paulose, president, Kalamasserry YMCA.
The organisation has given the order for the meals at a vegetarian hotel in the neighbourhood, from where the police will collect it. “We have committed to continue the support throughout the lockdown period and are confident that our 500-odd members will only be willing to support the initiative by providing even more food packets, if needed,” said Mr. Paulose.
The Kalamasserry police distributed over 100 meals for the second consecutive day on Wednesday as every police personnel on duty at the station continued to bring five meals each as part of the initiative.
Meanwhile, more police stations and voluntary organisations are coming forward with similar initiatives. “We helped an organisation that sought our help to distribute the meals since they were unable to move around owing to the restrictions in place in the wake of the lockdown,” said Kiran C. Nair, Station House Officer, Kadavanthra.
Police in association with Ernakulam Sahrudaya similarly distributed meals in the city in the afternoon.
