KAKINADA: Spandana, a division of the Sankurathri Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), and a disaster relief initiative that was begun in 1999, has come up with an innovative voluntary social activity to mark the occasion of the country’s 70th Independence Day.
It will collect old clothes and other things that people don’t require, such as blankets and electronic items from August 10 to 17, put them in order and send it all to Goonj, the award-winning NGO, based in Delhi, that recycles such materials and distributes them to the lakhs of needy people in the country who have been victims of natural calamities, such as cyclones, fire accidents and earthquakes, said Sankurathri Foundation chairman Dr S. Chandrasekhar. “Nobody can do this singly, but we can do it together,” he added.
The organisers said that their team was going to place collection bins at all schools in Kakinada and have appealed to people to send their under-utilised articles to the Spandana office at the Srikiran Ophthalmology Institute. Goonj undertakes disaster relief, humanitarian aid and community development in 21 states in the country, recycling discarded clothes and household goods so that they can be used by those who need them. It collects and delivers nearly 1,000 tonnes of material every year and also runs infrastructure and local development projects in villages and slum areas.
