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Gifts going out: toys, blankets and cycles

Many groups in Bengaluru are going out and distributing stuff to usher in the festive cheer
Last Updated 17 August 2021, 07:06 IST

Bengaluru’s service organisations are spreading the festive cheer by donating bicycles, toys, sweaters and blankets.

GSQ Foundation handed out 70 bicycles to school-going children in the ST Bed slum area in Koramangala recently.

Mousumi Chakraborty, founder, says more cycle donations are coming up for the ST Bed slum and Ejipura slum in Koramangala 8th Block, near the Passport Office.

The group is also gifting used toys in good condition. “Some people donate fresh items, which is a sweet surprise,” she says.

During the lockdown, the foundation helped the needy with cooked food and ration kits. “This year has been tough for everyone but people are coming out in large numbers to help,” she says.

HumanityIsReligion and Hands4Society handed out around 550 blankets in and around Hebbal, KR Puram, Kadugodi, Marathahalli, Vijaynagar, Indiranagar, and also at the Cantonment and Yeshwantpur railway stations.

Suroj Ali, founder, HumanityIsReligion, says, “We usually do surveys and find out where the blankets can be handed out. In the coming week, we are looking for used toys in good condition for children between five and 12.”

Sweater drives

365 Smiles, a social media group formed in 2018, has about 50 members.

Shahida Hussain, founder and mentor, says, “We distributed 200 blankets in Kammanahalli, Shivajinagar, Kalasipalyam and Tannery Road recently. We plan to go to Koramangala next.” Shahida’s son Sahal C H says blankets are most essential during winters.

Save India Foundation Charitable Trust, established seven years ago, has started a ‘winter drive’, and sent donations to people in north India, where extreme winters are experienced.

Muhammad Sehara Desai, founder trustee, says, “The drive will start in Bengaluru and Karnataka in a week’s time. We are raising funds to purchase sweaters and blankets. We are also accepting used blankets in good condition and fresh warm clothes.”

The foundation will be supplying these to slum areas in Avalahalli, DJ Halli, Nagawara, KR Puram and Peenya. “We want to give out 1,200 blankets and around 700 sweaters this season,” Sehara says.

Gift a look

Bangalore Hair Donation, a group partnering with the Indian Cancer Society Bangalore, has been encouraging Bengalureans to donate their hair for cancer patients.

Its message is “gift a wig and a look.”

“We usually see 15 to 20 donors in a month and the numbers increase in October and February, since Breast Cancer Awareness Month and World Cancer Day fall then,” says a core volunteer.

“We collect the hair, and our hairdresser turns them into wigs, and then these are handed out to Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, which identifies the candidates,” he explains.

To donate

GSQ Foundation: Call 98807 15268

365 Smiles: Call 94480 82365

Bangalore Hair Donation: @blrhairdonation on Instagram

Save India Foundation: Call 98444 49990

HumanityIsReligion: Call 81399 56439

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(Published 18 December 2020, 19:48 IST)

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