A group of volunteers known as ‘Turbans for Australia’ have donated 1.5tonnes worth of food to people who are struggling during the coronavirus pandemic.
Volunteer and truck driver Amar Singh told Daily Mail Australia his organisation already spent about $4,000 on groceries bound for the elderly, disabled and people stuck in self isolation.
In addition to working full time, the group have dedicated more than 25 hours in the past week to creating 160 hampers full of noodles, tuna, tinned vegetables, nutella and juice for people throughout Sydney.
‘We’re giving preference to the elderly, disabled and people in self isolation but if someone rings us, we’ll help within our means,’ Mr Singh said.
Pictured: A sample of the boxes full of non-perishable foods for people struggling during the coronavirus crisis
The charitable organisation was inspired to help out after the government imposed 14-day self isolation rules for people returning from overseas to slow the spread of coronavirus.
‘The health directive of the mandatory 14-day self isolation has left many people unable to provide for themselves,’ Mr Singh said.
‘We don’t want anyone to miss out on essentials.’
Initially, the group spent $2,000 on a grocery delivery to divvy up into the hampers.
‘We have another repeat of the order for mid next week, as the hampers are going out fast,’ Mr Singh said.
The group is able to deliver to most of Sydney, and has volunteers from Penrith to Turramurra, but is fielding calls from struggling interstate residents.
‘We’re putting them in touch with our team members there,’ Mr Singh explained, adding they have a ‘large number of volunteers’ who remain the backbone of all their projects.
Members of the community volunteered to help put the hampers together which were then delivered within Sydney
The Sikh men have spent a total of 25 hours – on top of their day jobs – boxing up and delivering goods in the past few days
Increasingly, Mr Singh and his team are speaking with elderly people who are struggling to keep up with panic-shoppers.
‘They’re having to go multiple times a week just to buy groceries or miss out on essentials because they have to rely on family or carers to take them shopping,’ he said.
In supermarkets throughout Australia, customers are struggling to buy everyday goods like toilet paper, non-perishable foods like pasta and rice and hand sanitiser.
The hysteria surrounding the threat of COVID-19 has encouraged more customers to panic-buy and stock up on supplies, and supermarkets are still struggling to keep up with demand.
Mr Singh said his group hopes to eliminate some of the uncertainty for Australia’s most vulnerable people, particularly the elderly and disabled.
Mr Singh, a truck driver by day, said every member of the volunteer organisation also works a full time job. They congregate during their free time to help those in need.
In addition to the groceries, the group are making hot vegetarian meals for people in isolation or confined to their homes due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Orders close at 2pm daily for a delivery between 6pm and 9pm.
The same group came together during the Australian bushfire crisis to deliver and cook food to struggling farmers and people who had been displaced.
The group also volunteered during the Australian bushfire crisis by giving out food to families in need
Members of the group and affiliates cooked hot meals for people who were displaced or struggling during the worst bushfires on record in Australia
Dozens of Sikh volunteers visited the New South Wales south coast after it was ravaged by fires.
Mr Singh previously said they raised upwards of $50,000 from members of the community, which went toward food, water and tools to help people rebuild their lives.
Just last week, it was revealed that Sikh Volunteers Australia, another organisation based in Melbourne, would be delivering 1,000 home-cooked meals to people living in the city’s south-east who were stuck in self-isolation.
The group’s vice president, Manpreet Singh, told Daily Mail Australia he and his friends were motivated to help as Australia restricted movement further to slow the spread of COVID-19.
‘We run free food for the homeless and needy in this area twice a week,’ he said.
A volunteer group of Sikhs (pictured) have established a coronavirus food delivery service that will provide self-isolated people in Melbourne’s south-east with free meals
‘Once we heard people were having a problem with food when they go shopping, they can’t find food in the shopping centre, then we added one more day.’
Mr Singh said on that first day alone, they had almost 50 people reach out to explain their dire conditions.
In response, the group announced they would work around the clock for the next two weeks.
Last Wednesday, they delivered 310 meals to people in need. By Friday, they delivered an additional 460.
’99 percent of the people using the service are Australian, the only Indians are those coming from overseas who are isolating for 14 days,’ he said.
The group noticed the majority of people who needed additional support were the elderly.
‘(It’s mostly) vulnerable people who are worried about the virus or people having trouble getting food at the supermarket, and disabled, homeless and single parents who are looking after their kids and can’t go out,’ Mr Singh said.
Like Turbans for Australia, the volunteer organisation helped out during the bushfire crisis in the Gippsland region.
The non-profit organisation was founded in 2017 and has a team of 103 members who work regular jobs alongside their volunteering.
The non-profit organisation was founded in 2017 and has a team of 103 members who work regular jobs alongside their volunteering
The service announcement (pictured) was posted to the Sikh volunteer group’s Facebook page and they expected to hand out 300 orders on their first round of deliveries tonight