#ChennaiGives is rapidly gaining popularity
Actress Jyothika
On the occasion of the International Day of Charity, September 5 Chennaiites have come together for #ChennaiGives, inspired and in turn inspiring others to donate items of value — from clothes, household items, to books and even movie CDs.
The event is organised by Madras Round Table I, in collaboration with the transport service company Uber and many local charity organisations. “On the day, there will be an option on the cab service app called uberGIVE. Users need only to click on it, and a cab will come to pick up their bagged items. In fact, each cab will have a volunteer, who, with the permission of the donor, will click their picture and put it up on social media. We are expecting that people will be inspired by this to donate and involve the entire family,” says Puneet Gupta, Chairman of the Madras Round Table I and part of the organising committee.
Indeed, word about the event has been spreading like wildfire, in part due to the surprising number of celebrities who have taken to social media, posting selfies with the number of donations they are pledging under hashtag #ChennaiGives. From actors Jyothika and Suriya who have each pledged 100 items from their household, to sportstar and former cricketer Krishnamachari Srikkanth and his family, and even Grand Master Viswanathan Anand, who pledged his support from the US, where he is currently travelling.
Actor Jayam Ravi, who pledged to give away 350 items as part of the #ChennaiGives campaign, says he instantly liked the idea when he came to know about it through a friend. Actor Jayam Ravi, who is riding high on the success of Thani Oruvan, says, “I believe in the saying ‘what goes around, comes around’ — hence, I felt that it’s better to donate or give away used products than to waste them. I was excited when I heard about the campaign and decided immediately to do my part for the same. This social service is something that many people can afford and indulge in easily.”
DC reached out to Aruna Anand, wife of Viswanathan Anand. They will be donating a number of items, from clothes and toys, to even autographed chessboards and other items owned by the Grand Master. “A lot of our friends are in the MRT1, so we thou-ght of do-ing it as well. What people should keep in mind is that when you give away things, you should think about whether it will be useful and the person will appreciate having something like that,” says Aruna.
Arti Anirudha and her husband, cricketer Anirudha Srikkanth, are among the latest celebrities pledging their support. “The fact that the event has gone viral on social media is a great thing. When a topic like this, which deserves to go viral, trends on the Inter-net, we know it’s making a difference. This way, a lot of organisations elsewhere will also be inspired to start similar campaigns and drives,” says Arti.
Farah Agarwal, an interior designer based in Chennai, is a member of the MRT 1, and part of the organising team. “It started off as an idea to help people, but not to the scale it has come to now. All of the last week has been about preparing ourselves — the logistics and planning. It’s gotten bigger, so much bigger. Even on the day of the event, we want to keep the buzz going, getting people to talk about it on social media. Many will get inspired and motivated to keep doing this,” she concludes.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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