Football coach Priya PV, who guided Gokulam Kerala FC to title success in the Indian Women’s League is now extending her help in Kerala’s fight against COVID-19. She now volunteers at the government helpline centre in Kannur, attending calls for requirements of essential commodities and sorting them out. India and Jamshedpur FC attacker CK Vineeth has also been volunteering along with her. The helpline centre works to provide medicine and food to the underprivileged.
Key Takeaways:
- Football coach Priya PV is volunteering at the government helpline centre in Kannur.
- At the helpline centre, Priya notes down the demands of those who are in need and forwards the requests of essential commodities to the required suppliers.
- The demands are delivered to the people free of cost.
- We are helping people get items such as groceries, medicines and surgical equipment: Priya PV
The first woman coach from Kerala to hold the AFC A-license, Priya caters to people’s need by attending calls from 10 am until 5 pm every day. She has been doing this job for about three weeks now and believes that the government needs all the help in this time of crisis. “We are helping people get items such as groceries, medicines and surgical equipment. We have circulated about seven to eight helpline numbers for such demands,” she told Sportstar.
"We have been getting around 150-200 calls every day. Most of these are for medicines. We make sure that whenever we get any requests for medicines, they are duly sent to those in need," said Priya in an earlier statement.
“Some people call, some text us, and some drop WhatsApp messages. Honestly, WhatsApp messages are easier for us because we can forward the messages directly to the necessary vendors,” she added.
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Priya explains that the request for commodities possibly gets delivered within a day and free of cost. “We try to provide supplies as soon as possible, especially if there is an urgency for medicines. Otherwise, if the requests are placed in the morning, we try to get the supplies delivered by evening. If someone requests in the evening, then it usually takes longer,” she said.
Volunteering for the cause
Daughter of ex-serviceman Prabhakaran, Priya started to play football at a very young age. She is now employed under the sports division of the state government. For the helpline job, she was approached by the district panchayat and the sports council.
“They asked us if I would be willing to work and I agreed as they needed some seniors at the desk. The volunteers and delivery boys are pretty young thus I was asked if I would be ready to work, to which I had no problem,” she said.
“As sportspersons, we rarely get such chances. We are often busy with tournaments or camps. So when we get such opportunities, I think we should definitely go for it. Very rarely can we do social work like this.”
She also attends to requests from students and other professionals from around the area. "No requests for medicines are ever turned down. We try to do the same for grocery and food items as well. But sometimes we have to keep in mind that we have to distribute such items among a lot of people. So we try to divide it for everyone to get some amount," she added.
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Feature Image Credit: ArunFoot.com
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