Vishnu Patel
Nominated for : Helping the poor get food and medicines.
Initiative - Runs an NGO that provides food to the poor
Nominated for : Helping the poor get food and medicines.
Initiative - Runs an NGO that provides food to the poor
62-year-old Vishnu Patel’s initiative to provide food to the needy, started 15 years ago, soon motivated the masses to rescue the poor from the clutches of hunger and deprivationYears ago, Vishnu Patel saw a scrawny boy, who seemed like he hadn’t eaten for days, clinging to the steps of a temple. Moved by the child’s plight, and the plea of help he saw in his eyes, Patel offered the boy some food. As he saw the boy scarf down the food, Patel was motivated to do something to help the hungry in the city. “I knew there were scores of people who went to bed on an empty stomach, who couldn’t afford one decent meal a day,” says Patel.
Hence, the seeds for NGO Gopi Annakshetra were sown. Not satisfied with his small effort to help, in 1999, Patel started feeding five hungry children every Sunday of the month. His act of kindness didn’t go unnoticed by his friends and neighbours who also joined him in his mission to feed the hungry. “Thus, annakshetra was born,” says Patel. Since then, Gopi Annakeshtra, near the Akhbarnagar Circle, has turned into an important philanthropic organisation providing food to the needy in the city. “Several people heard about my service to the poor and joined me in the initiative.
From a one-person initiative, it has now become a mass mission to help people get one proper meal a day.” According to Patel, it is the unstinting support of fresh recruits that has helped him in expanding his mission of ‘manav seva’. Gopi Annakshetra initially started as an organisation which concentrated on providing food to the needy. Over the time, the organisation has also started catering to other needs of people.
Patel says, “For 15 years, we had only one purpose -- to feed the hungry and poor people. Now, we want to attend to the other needs of poor, needy and lower income group families and help them in the best possible manner. We provide them with food and other requirements, irrespective of what caste, creed or religion they belong to.” Some of the facilities offered by the NGO are medical check-ups and medicines at a nominal rate of Rs 5, Senior citizen forums between 4 pm and 6.30 pm every day where discussions are held on healthy living, tiffin services to cancer hospital at Civil Hospital and free food for thousands of children and adult. Over the years, several people have joined the NGO and Patel is only happy to welcome volunteers to this noble cause.
Hence, the seeds for NGO Gopi Annakshetra were sown. Not satisfied with his small effort to help, in 1999, Patel started feeding five hungry children every Sunday of the month. His act of kindness didn’t go unnoticed by his friends and neighbours who also joined him in his mission to feed the hungry. “Thus, annakshetra was born,” says Patel. Since then, Gopi Annakeshtra, near the Akhbarnagar Circle, has turned into an important philanthropic organisation providing food to the needy in the city. “Several people heard about my service to the poor and joined me in the initiative.
From a one-person initiative, it has now become a mass mission to help people get one proper meal a day.” According to Patel, it is the unstinting support of fresh recruits that has helped him in expanding his mission of ‘manav seva’. Gopi Annakshetra initially started as an organisation which concentrated on providing food to the needy. Over the time, the organisation has also started catering to other needs of people.
Patel says, “For 15 years, we had only one purpose -- to feed the hungry and poor people. Now, we want to attend to the other needs of poor, needy and lower income group families and help them in the best possible manner. We provide them with food and other requirements, irrespective of what caste, creed or religion they belong to.” Some of the facilities offered by the NGO are medical check-ups and medicines at a nominal rate of Rs 5, Senior citizen forums between 4 pm and 6.30 pm every day where discussions are held on healthy living, tiffin services to cancer hospital at Civil Hospital and free food for thousands of children and adult. Over the years, several people have joined the NGO and Patel is only happy to welcome volunteers to this noble cause.
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