A kind heart is all you need to help and support the financially deprived and economically downtrodden section of society. And this has been amply demonstrated by Rinku Patra, a simple and compassionate soul, residing in Lakpada, in Paradip town of Jagatsinghpur district in Odisha. A sanitation worker by profession, she spends her mornings by driving the garbage truck and gathering garbage from the doorsteps in different wards, and in the afternoons, she takes on a completely different role and distributes cooked food to the needy across the town.

Rinku is driven by a passion to help others. Although her earnings are modest, but she is lion-hearted where caring for people in the lowest rungs of society is concerned. She fully understands what poverty and starvation feels like and so does her bit to ensure that the poor don’t have to stay hungry. She uses her earnings to support her own family and also help others to the best of her ability, unlike the rich and affluent people in the town who don’t share a similar empathy for the poor.

Every morning, Rinku does her job as a sanitation worker, and when she comes back home, she cooks food for her own family, alongside preparing an extra amount for the needy. After lunch is prepared, she takes a tour of the roads and lanes in Paradip on a scooter, sometimes alone and sometimes accompanied by her son, Happy. Wherever she spots a hungry soul, her scooter stops and she brings out her food bag to feed the person. Sometimes, she awakens people sleeping along the roadside and serves them food, with love and respect. She also converses with them, listening to their hardships and struggles.

Happy is in awe of his mother and thinks she is truly inspiring. And as for Rinku, she hopes to continue this service to humanity to the best of her ability, for as long as life allows her to.