Five ladies from Sainikpuri — Sudha Gorthi (75), Sudha Raghuram (74), Lalitha Aiyer (71), Gulshan Gev Bamboat (63) and Manjula Reddy (49), have come up with an interesting concept of charity. They collect accessories, bags, books, clothes, shoes, and electronics that are in good condition, from households, but are not being used, and sell them to lower income groups at a marginal rate of Rs 10 to Rs 100. They then donate the money to charitable organisations.
Sudha Gorthi, a lecturer, is the brainchild behind the effort. She has been a part of many charitable initiatives before. “I used to raise funds for charity by asking my family and friends to donate but realised that it won’t help enough. That’s when I thought of raising funds through sales,” she says.
After collecting the items, they are segregated, thoroughly checked and priced. Lalitha Aiyer says, “Everything needs to be scrutinised and priced appropriately. For example, we priced a cotton saree which was a little faded at Rs 30, and a pure silk saree at Rs 100. Rarely, if an item is in very good condition, we price it above Rs 100.”
About the approach, Manjula Reddy, a poetess, says, “Free stuff is taken for granted, so we thought we’d sell instead. It makes people happy that they have earned these things.”
On how they market themselves, Gulshan, a housewife, says, “Mostly, by word of mouth. We tell people to spread the word to those who they think will be interested.” Last year, the collection was nearly Rs 75,000, which was donated to Anurag, an organisation that works with mentally challenged children, Videhi Ashram for girls and Balajyoti Orphanage.
