MMF Newsletter | Dec 31, 2020 | Vol 2020.4
Message from the Founder
2020 వెళ్తూ మహమ్మారి రూపంలో మానవాళికి ఎన్నో సవాళ్లు విసిరింది. అడుగు బయట పెట్టనీయకుండ మనలో చాలామందిని క్రుంగదీసిన ఈ తరుణం, మాలో మాత్రం మనసు పెట్టి ఆలోచిస్తే ఈ ప్రకృతి ప్రకోపానికి తల్లడిల్లిన సాటి మనుషులను, కుదేలైన రైతు కుటుంబాలను ఆదుకోవాలని సంకల్పించే మనోబలాన్ని ఇస్తూ మరిన్ని సేవా కార్యక్రమాల అంకురార్పణకు ప్రేరణ అయ్యింది.
మేము చేపట్టే కార్యక్రమాలలో నిజాయితీని గుర్తించి మా మీద నమ్మకం ఉంచిన మనసున్న మా దాతలకు, ఎటువంటి మానవ సహజ భేషజాలకు పోకుండా మేము చేపట్టిన ప్రతీ సేవా కార్యక్రమాన్ని తమ ఎంతో అమూల్యమైన సమయాన్ని వెచ్చించి అర్హులకు అందచేస్తున్న నిస్వార్థమైన మా వాలంటీర్లకు, అలాగే అనుకున్నదే తడవుగా ఆగమేఘాల మీద ప్రణాళికలు రచించి, చేపట్టిన ప్రతీ సేవా కార్యక్రమాన్ని సంపూర్ణమయ్యేవరకు అలుపెరగకుండా, ముందుండి ఎంతో నిబద్ధతతో నడిపించే మా MMF teamకు ఈ సంచికని అంకితమిస్తూ, మా MMF విద్యార్థులకు, రైతు కుటుంబాలకు మరియు MMF శ్రేయోభిలాషులందరికీ 2021 నూతన సంవత్సర శుభాకాంక్షలు !!
- శ్రీని జి.
MMF Spotlight - Farmer Support Initiatives
Among the innumerable upstreams farming families encounter in their lives, the one that gives us the most grief is farmers committing suicide. Insolvency, debts that they could not recover from, seeds or pesticides that did not work, familial pressure, etc. – the list of circumstances surrounding a farmer’s decision to commit suicide goes on. No matter the reason, the onus of taking care of the surviving family invariably falls on the family members themselves. As one might have guessed, it is not emotionally or financially easy to move on, especially when there are kids or parents to take care of. From the numerous surviving families in distress we spoke with and vetted, we identified three widows that would have benefited from having a cattle animal. We sought donations to support these widows to buy them a buffalo or a cow to help sustain themselves through farming or dairy business. The overwhelming response we received through your donations was humbling and we were able to reach our target goal within 10 days. The pictures below showing all our donation goals reached are a testimony to your willingness to support this initiative. We were able to procure them the cattle animals right away and is one of our big success stories this quarter.
MMF Spotlight - Education Initiatives
A number of students taking up professional and/or vocational courses/programs (B.E., B.Sc., Polytechnic, etc.) intend to join the workforce after they graduate. The impetus in these programs has largely been technical. As such, resources allocated for essential personality development such as effective communication and job interview performance skills are either non-existent or limited. To help fill this void, we have started a pilot program last quarter to train a select number of students from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and help them succeed in their communication skills as well as career goals.
IT professionals from the US and India have volunteered to conduct multiple rounds of mock technical interviews for career-oriented students and provide feedback identifying their deficiencies. They will coach these students to handle the rigors of job interviews and help them land a professional career when they graduate.
We are very thankful to the participants and volunteers to drive forward this initiative.
Food Donation Drive in India and the USA
The COVID-19 lockdown has substantially affected people without regard for any geographical boundaries. With jobs displaced and paychecks lost, it has been particularly hard for earning members of families to put food on their plates. Recent floods in Hyderabad made situations even worse. We have teamed up with the Food Bank of Hyderabad to donate hot home-cooked meal packets that served 800 people for the following causes:
- COVID-19 lockdown impacted daily wage laborers
- Flood impacted areas in Hyderabad
- Dependents of patients hospitalized at the Koti Maternity Hospital and NIMS Hospital
Simultaneously, we have continued our previous efforts to mobilize donations to the Food Bank of Iowa. We reached about 72% of our ambitious goal and our efforts served about 14,500 meals thus far.
If you are able to, please contribute to the Food Bank of Iowa by clicking here: https://give.foodbankiowa.org/teams/13760-manaloni-manishi-foundation-mmf-you-are-what-you-think
We will be sending out tax-exempt receipts for all donations made directly to MMF USA for the year 2020. If you did not receive them by January 31, 2021, please reach out to us and let us know.
We are wading through uncertain and challenging times. Our health and safety are as important as the well-being of others around us. Through following safe practices and physical distancing guidelines, we can survive COVID-19 together.
MMF is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization under the internal revenue code, with federal tax ID 81-3554636, and any donations you make in the USA are tax-deductible.
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