On the occasion of Utkal Divas, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday launched a ‘Wheel of Kindness’ initiative, under which citizens can donate their old clothes to be distributed among slum dwellers in the city.
The clothes would be washed, pressed and packed at ‘The ‘Kindness Hub’ located at Madhusudan Nagar before distribution.
Interested people can donate their clothes at the BMC main office and zonal offices or they can give a call on mobile number +91 7978242201 for collection of clothes from their doorsteps.Besides, the BMC is also planning to keep drop-boxes for clothes at places like shopping malls and apartments in the coming days. A specially-designed vehicle named ‘Kindness on Wheels’ would roll on the streets nearby slums for distribution of clothes among the needy. The bus has segregated racks with clothes for kids, women and men.
Now, the bus would ply on the streets nearby different slums or labour markets across the city in two shifts, from 9 am to 2 pm and then from 4 pm to 9 pm every working day. There would be no cloth distribution on Sundays.
NGO Vikash has been engaged to collect, wash and distribute the clothes. It has been given the task of collecting at least 17,500 pieces of clothes every month. The Kindness Hub accepts clothes of persons of all ages, right from babies to elderly people, apart from bed-sheets, towels, blankets and other such necessities.
“The purpose behind this initiative is to collect old clothes that can be still be used and make those available to the needy free of cost. Besides, it will encourage people not to discard their wearable old clothes, instead they can give it to us as a result these clothes reach the needy and homeless people living in the city,” said BMC Commissioner Prem Chandra Chaudhary. The BMC would spend around Rs 1.60 lakh every month as part its running and maintenance cost of the initiative.