Blanket drives are back in time for winter

Many city groups are distributing warm clothes and blankets among the poor and the destitute

Come winter and philanthropic organisations begin blanket donation drives in the city. While some drives are underway, others will start shortly.

Eight-year-old non-profit organisation Uttishta Bharatha has been doing blanket drives for four years. The group kicked off its blanket drive in November and plans to wrap it up by December 11.

Neeraj Kamath, convenor, says, the drive will cover areas including Domlur, Yelachenahalli, Basaveshwaranagar, Electronics City, Kumaraswamy Layout, Uttarahalli, Kanakapura Road, Bellandur, and even Kolar. “We have seen a good and encouraging response this year,” he adds.

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The Bengaluru chapter of Kerala-based Thanal, an NGO under Daya Rehabilitation Trust, has commenced its blanket drive and will continue till December 15. Sajeed Navas, treasurer of the NGO and organiser of the drive, says, “We have already distributed around 960 blankets and hope to hand out 3,000 blankets this year along with food to the needy. We have a community kitchen in Mahadevapura and we hand out food packets daily,” he says.

The blankets are being distributed in Shivajinagar, KR Puram, KR Market, Kadugodi, Marathahalli, DJ Halli, Koramangala, and around the Nimhans hospital, he adds.

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HumanityIsReligion’s blanket and warm clothes drive will start on December 17, 10 pm at Hudson Circle. The volunteers will split into teams and cover various areas, including Yeshwanthpur, Vidyaranyapura, Yelahanka, Hebbal, KR Puram, Hoskote, Whitefield, Sarjapur Main Road, Electronics City, Bommasandra, Attibele and Mysore Road.

You can donate good-quality blankets to the organisation or Rs 200 to buy a fresh one. You can also donate winter caps, sweaters and other warm clothes in good condition, says founder Suroj Ali. “We are hoping to distribute more than 500 blankets in the city, and are trying to collect around 250 blankets for tribal communities in Chamarajanagar in BR Hills,” he says.

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The winter drive from SIF Charitable Trust focuses on providing warm clothes and blankets to people on the street and in slums, and sweaters for children in schools. Founder trustee Muhammad Sehara Desai says the trust has distributed these within Karnataka, and other states such as Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu this year. “In Bengaluru, the focus areas are RT Nagar, Tannery Road, Avalahalli, Nayanahalli, Varthur, and Kodihalli,” he lists out. Compared to previous years, the contributions “are much better”, he adds. “We are planning to hand out at least 1,000 blankets and 400 sweaters in Bengaluru till January 15,” he says.

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