It was not a big deal until the kids called me over
phone today and sang a Christmas Carol and wished me “Merry Christmas and Happy
New Year”. I realized how a small action
of donating old clothes to an orphanage made a big difference to them.
I had a bag full of unwanted clothes that was taking
up space in my wardrobe. Most of the NGOs had donation drop-off centers which
were quite far from my home and the donation was too little to request for door
pick-up. When I checked with my apartment residents, many volunteered for
donation. So I started my search for a NGO that will come to our apartment for
collection. To my surprise, all the big famous charitable organizations that
come in Google search due to their ‘good marketing funding’ were reluctant to
facilitate donation drive at our venue and some didn't even respond. Then I
found a request for help in one of the online yellow pages by a small orphanage
and when approached, they were very happy to accept our contribution.
I passed on the information to all the residents
through our apartment online forum and by putting up posters on notice boards
about the donation drive being organized.
On the planned event
day, I was overwhelmed to see the collection box overflowing with goodwill
gesture. I had promised one medium sized box of clothes to the orphanage and
when they came to collect, they were amazed to see their goods auto rickshaw
completely filled with material donations that included clothes, blankets,
toys, school stationery, etc.
Seeing the success and
positive vibes of the charity event, I wondered why each apartment complex or
gated community couldn't adopt one such organization and conduct small donation
drives once a year. This could be a great help for those needy people. But when
the children contacted me to convey their Xmas and New Year wishes today, I
really want this small initiative implemented at all gated communities and
apartment complexes. The community living is becoming so popular in India that
the resident associations can easily implement community relations measures.
Even a small scale event can help in a big way and create a good impact.
My recommendation would be to approach small charity
foundations and orphanages that cannot afford marketing initiatives to advertise
for support. Also do take care that your contributions can be reused by someone
and do not dump your old ragged stuff. It is worth mentioning to be aware of
fake establishments that collect old clothes and find their way into the
seconds market.
Hope
my experience will cause a ripple effect and I can see many more such noble
initiatives being adopted by others.
-Chalked by Rashmi Sreedharan
