Haldwani: Service is the greatest religion. For the past two and a half years, the Ravi Roti Bank team in Haldwani has been exemplifying this mantra. The team is committed to ensuring no one in the city sleeps hungry, serving the mentally weak and helpless, providing ration to disaster-affected areas, and delivering essentials to those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The noble task of feeding the hungry, poor, helpless, and mentally weak individuals by the Ravi Roti Bank team is accomplished through three different systems. Anyone can contact the team if there is leftover food at home or from an event at a banquet hall. Besides this, food is also prepared at the Roti Bank office.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the food was prepared in the office. Every evening at 8 PM, the team would feed the poor, helpless, and mentally weak people at the main intersections, bus stations, and railway stations of Haldwani. Additionally, they organize clothing distribution drives and hygiene initiatives.
The team also provides new identities to mentally unstable individuals by grooming them. The Ravi Roti Bank team is always ready for blood donation, a practice that continues to this day. Although the pandemic posed challenges, under the leadership of team captain Tarun Saxena, the team never stopped.
During the past year of the pandemic, the Ravi Roti Bank team ensured that no poor, helpless, or mentally weak person went hungry or troubled. The team delivered food to approximately 2000 such individuals daily, including the poor, farmers, daily wage laborers, and street vendors whose livelihoods were disrupted by the pandemic and lockdown.
The team served everyone from stranded students to police officers. The pandemic indeed impacted people’s financial conditions, but with Ravi Roti Bank around, no one in need was left troubled. From the beginning of the pandemic until now, the team has provided ration kits, masks, and sanitizers to hundreds of families, supplying ration for three months continuously.
For their work, the Ravi Roti Bank team was honored by MPs, MLAs, the Leader of the Opposition, and the DIG. Numerous social service organizations in the city also recognized the team.
On October 15 last year, the Ravi Roti Bank team celebrated its second anniversary. On this occasion, they launched a van to serve food every afternoon outside the base hospital to the caregivers of admitted patients and those in need.
The Roti Bank team continues to selflessly serve the hungry, poor, helpless, and mentally weak individuals daily, along with various public service activities with utmost sincerity. Many people from the city and beyond are joining them in their efforts. Team captain Tarun Saxena attributes all the service credit to his hardworking team, and they plan to continue these efforts in the future.
