Two young Indian-Australian girls from Toowoomba in Queensland are using their cooking skills to raise funds for the COVID crisis in India.
The funds raised with the help of their friends Nitin and Anu through cooking will be used to oxygen concentrators, procure oxygen cylinders and flow meters, additional healthcare supplies and nutritious meals to the needy.
The 10 and 14-year-olds are also the youngest in Australia to receive Young Citizen of the Year awards for their fundraising efforts.
In January 2021, the awards committee noted:
“Radhika and Krishnapriya’s compassion and generosity is inspirational and they are very deserving recipients of Toowoomba’s Young Citizens of the Year award.”
Radhika, 14, and Krishnapriya, 10, have been encouraged by their mother, Divya and father, Sid Bhardwaj, to follow their passion of feeding the needy.
They have poured in their hearts to cook more than 10000 during 2019 bushfire and when COVID struck our community in early 2020.
“Responding to calls from other areas, the family then travelled 12,000 kilometres to share meals and kindness with people impacted by the devastating fires in Kangaroo Valley, Bega, the Snowy Mountains and Cooma.”
The sisters have always responded to emergencies both in Australia and in India.
“When COVID-19 stuck, the hardworking teenagers responded by distributing 100 meals a day to healthcare workers at the Toowoomba Base Hospital. The sisters also initiated a Facebook group to assist international students in Toowoomba and cooked meals for vulnerable members of the community, including elderly residents.”
A few years ago, they even organised a campaign to provide disaster relief for the Kerala floods.
In a statement they said:
“The community responded graciously to our efforts and we were the recipients of Toowoomba District Young Citizens of the Year award (youngest in the history of Australia) on Australia Day 2021 and at present one of the nominees for an The Medal of the Order of Australia (would be youngest in the Australian history, if successful).
So far, Radhika and Krishnapriya have raised AUD23,753 and their target is AUD50,000.
