NGO sets up used clothing stall for the underprivileged

Coimbatore: Helping Hearts, a non-governmental organisation, on Sunday set up a pre-owned garment stall at Adidravidar Boys Hostel in Ondipudur that offered free clothing for the needy.
“Instead of showing sympathy to the needy, we wanted to empathize with them and that gave birth to the idea of the pre-owned garment stall. Instead of giving them the clothes of our choice, we wanted them to select what was best for them,” said M Ganesh, founder and managing trustee of the NGO.

The stall displayed over 700 dresses. As many as 120 people benefited by the drive.

The NGO had been collecting used clothes through its collection centres for the last six months, Ganesh said. “Helping Hearts has 10 collection centres, including those at Thulasi Pharmacies. We also conducted collection drives in the district. We did quality check, washed and pressed the garments before displaying them,” he told TOI.

Each person was allowed to take only two sets of clothes from the stall.

The NGO is also planning to collect other materials for the needy. “We will soon include items like school bags. Now we are setting up the stall only once in alternate weeks. We plan to do this on a regular basis. I encourage more people to contribute to the cause, as the things that we consider as unwanted might be much-needed for someone,” Ganesh added.