Hemant Patel now feeds hundreds daily who earlier did not have Rs. 10- to feed his daughter. :- AHMEDABAD: In 2000 Hemant Patel, 48, a resident of Madalpur, was at his wit's end. He used to be employed at a private travels company. Suddenly, his world came crashing down as he was sacked and was without a job when his 15-year-old daughter fell ill and was admitted to the VS Hospital.
"My daughter asked me to get food from outside the hospital because she was tired of eating food supplied at VS. But I did not even have Rs 10 in my pocket then," recalled Patel. "I was thinking hard standing outside the hospital campus when I saw some other people who shared my grief. These were relatives of poor patients who stood outside various rooms in the hospital and they too did not have money to buy food for themselves, much like me."
Patel's daughter recovered and his life was back on track again as he took his career to a new direction -private catering and supplying food for cultural and social functions.
In 2002 Patel was reminded of his plight when he was struggling to get food for his daughter in the hospital. "I had been to the hospital to visit a friend when I saw hundreds of people sitting outside, with no money or food," said Patel. "Then the flow of patients was extremely high owing to the communal riots. I felt very bad and could relate immediately to their predicament."
Patel rushed back home with a mission in his mind. He got his employees to put aside all their work for some time and focus on preparing food for patients' relatives. "I returned to VS Hospital with food for 150 persons," he said. "The gratified smiles and the blessings that I got on that day was something that I had never experienced before."
Patel was hooked to this experience and since that evening of 2002, he has never stopped ferrying food for the patients' relatives at the VS hospital. Each day he takes food for them. And, the menu changes every day - roti-sabji, rice, lentil and vegetable, and kichdi along with a sweet.
All the nurses in the hospital now know of Patel's philanthropy. Whenever a new patient is admitted, the nurses go out of their way and tell the relatives of Patel's daily visits.
"Initially I used to fund the food donation with my own money," Patel said. "But, now people know about my daily visits to the hospital and often come up with donations which range from rice, lentil and some times even cash."
Patel invites all those who donate cash to be a part of the experience. There has been no looking back since then. Patel's philanthropy acted as a magnet for many people who wished to give back to society.
Retired chief general manager of SBI, Manhar Vaghela, was privy to this experience some four years back. "The first experience, thanks to Patel, was so moving that I could never stay away after that," Vaghela said. "Since then I have been visiting the hospital to feed the poor patients' relatives every day along with Patel."
Urvesh Zaveri, an auditor at a private bank, said: "Every day after I finish work, my first stop is at VS Hospital at 6 pm. My day is complete only after I donate food to the needy. This has become a way of life now."
Retired businessman, Jitu Shah, is also part of the team. "Now that the number of donors is steadily increasing, we often have more food than required at the hospital. So, I take up the responsibility of distributing food among the poor who stay in slums along the Sabaramati river banks."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Saviour-of-hungry-has-felt-the-pangs/articleshow/18214978.cms
Please share this article and share your food at some hospital
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Posted by: Ravi Narasimhan <ravi.narasimhan.in@gmail.com>
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