FOR Ramkumari, a Delhi-based domestic help, it has been a long struggle after her husband, a rickshaw puller, succumbed to COVID-19 last year. The prolonged lockdowns left her without work or income for most of last year. Some cash support from her former employers after her husband died didn’t last for long. She started working for a while earlier this year but the deadly second wave of the pandemic forced her to stay at home. Though local NGOs have provided her some relief and her children are not starving, her situation continues to look grim.
Ramkumari is among the many economically marginalised poor who are worst hit by the pandemic. While in-kind assistance has kept many families like that of Ramkumari’s from starving, it is cash support that would help keep them afloat and meet daily needs including medical expenses.
Bereaved families have become secondary victims
COVID-19’s deadly second wave saw India’s health infrastructure stretched much beyond its capacity. Nearly 350,000 people have succumbed to the virus, as per official statistics, since March 2020, and behind every death is a human story of immeasurable grief and pain.
Lakhs of families from every strata of society are grieving the sudden loss of their dear ones to the pandemic. The most affected are the ones who have lost able and working members of their family whose demise has left them financially bereft – more so for those already struggling to make ends meet.
Bereaved spouses and children have become the invisible secondary victims of COVID-19. Their trauma and helplessness only magnify the grief.
Financial assistance for bereaved families
Families in low-income groups are hard hit by the second wave of the pandemic and losing their only breadwinner has put their sustenance at stake. Without cash in hand, many families have not been able to even meet their basic needs or their children’s, like buying books for the new academic session. The untimely death of an earning family member in poor households leaves their families at the risk of slipping further into poverty.
We understand that nothing can replace their tragic loss, but we hope that the cash support will be used to meet immediate financial challenges till they find alternative work and earning options.
Under Give’s Cash Relief Mission, we help out the families of the deceased during the first few weeks, through its NGO partners. Under this initiative, each family of the deceased receives one-time cash support of ₹30,000 to help with immediate living expenses.
Give’s trusted NGO partners work with government hospitals, local authorities and crematoriums to identify families of the deceased and create a database. Cash support is provided only after a strict due diligence and authenticity verification of the claimants.
You can support our COVID mission
In this hour of collective grief, you can help those that need it the most. In the time of a calamity of this magnitude, we urge you to donate to our COVID Cash Relief Mission and help poor families in mourning to meet their immediate expenses. A little help from you will make all the difference.
You can track the impact of your contribution on the ground as Give will be sharing regular updates on the beneficiaries.
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Established in 2000, Give is the largest and most trusted giving platform in India. Our community of 2.6M+ donors have supported 2,800+ nonprofits, impacting 15M+ lives across India.
Samar is a Marcoms specialist and freelance writer. She has a master’s in marketing and creativity from ESCP Business School. She is an avid traveller and likes to write about technology, travel, wildlife and sustainability.
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