Blankets, sweaters, shoes to be donated to slum-dwellers

BENGALURU: While most of us have blankets and quilts to brave the cold, for those deprived of basic facilities, winter can be quite harsh. To spread warmth and celebrate the Christmas spirit, Whitefield Rising has decided to donate blankets, sweaters and shoes to the poor.
"It rained on Monday and Tuesday so we decided to scout nearby areas to take stock of the situation," said Devyani Trivedi of Whitefield Rising.
"We found the most common problem faced by slum-dwellers was the lack of blankets and slippers, which are essential to brave the rain and cold. We decided to launch a donation drive to help them," she added.
Residents can drop off the blankets and woollens at 13 points across Whitefield. The items will be distributed among 300-400 families living in Nellurahalli and Vijayanagara slums on December 20 (Tuesday).
"The collection period is very short as we're hoping to provide the items to the poor as soon as possible. Citizens can also donate money through our website, which we will use to buy blankets," said Devyani.
Volunteers will only provide blankets to those who don't have any and not everyone who asks for them. This is being done because in the past, a donation drive had resulted in the receivers selling the blankets for money. "Depending on how things go, we're hoping to expand the drive to other areas as well," added Devyani..