Vijay Deverakonda’s foundation raises Rs1.7 crore, helps 17,000 families impacted by the lockdown

Actor Vijay Deverakonda’s The Deverakonda Foundation, which was set up over a month ago to help middle-class families affected by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic crisis, has raised around Rs1.7 crore and benefitted over 17,000 households. The initiative is now being shut down as businesses are slowly resuming in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. This was confirmed by a statement issued by the foundation.

As per the statement, 535 volunteers joined the foundation to help thousands of families. A total number of 8,515 donations were received to the tune of Rs1.50 crore.

While announcing the Middle Class Fund, the actor had revealed that he had set aside Rs25 lakh from his savings to launch the initiative. Deverakonda had sought contributions from his celebrity friends and citizens. Within 36 days of being launched, the foundation has raised Rs1.7 crore.

The statement further added that 17,723 families and 58,808 people were benefitted from the fund. The money was used to take care of their immediate requirements, such as groceries and medicine.

Last year in July,  Deverakonda revealed that he was starting a secret project. The goal of the project was to employ one lakh people. In September 2019, though his foundation, 650 young boys and girls from rural areas sent their profiles seeking employment, of which 50 were picked and trained. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the employment plan got stalled.

On the career front, Deverakonda will next be seen on screen in Puri Jagannadh’s multilingual action-thriller Fighter, which also stars Ananya Pandey.