Hundreds flock for donated clothing

VALDEEN SHEARS

Hundreds flocked to the Divali Nagar site, Endeavour Road, Chaguanas, from as early as 7 am Saturday, to gain entry into the site’s auditorium and access to clothing and hampers.

The charitable drive was hosted by Serving All With Affection (SEWA) International TT in collaboration with the National Council for Indian Culture (NCIC).

The turn out was far greater than anticipated, said one official, and resulted in the cancellation of the proposed day-two of distribution.

“Ninety-nine percent of everything is gone. We didn’t anticipate it all going so fast and had advertised for today also, but what remained is not enough for the public to leave their homes to get. We are truly sorry for those who had planned to come today (Saturday). We will utilise social media and whatever other media and means we can to inform the public of the outcome,” said RevanTeelucksingh, SEWA’s chairperson.

Families, he said, had come from as far as Erin, Toco, Mayaro and Moruga, with many of them having been informed through the MPs of their area.

Kathy-Ann Hill, office manager for MP Prakash Ramadhar, said they had been contacted by SEWA, made a listing and co-ordinated a “chit system”.

Members of the public, who came through Ramadhar’s office presented a yellow ticket to Hill and was given a hamper of food items and the option to go into the auditorium to gather clothing. One such person was Counsil Sankaran-Eccles, who expressed gratitude to the MP for contacting her.

“We lost so much in the floods at Freeman Road, St Augustine. So we were happy to get this much needed help. It’s hard even now weeks later trying to pick up the pieces and move on with your life, when you still need help. This was welcomed by all, I am sure,” she said smiling.

The drive, though, was not only to assist persons affected in the floods of October 19, as SEWA had extended an open invitation to the general public. In fact, Teelucksingh said a concerted effort was made to get the public to donate items towards this particular campaign.

“I came from Arima, my son, my grand kids and I. We saw them on the TV and I called a number cause I wanted to be sure it wasn’t just for flood victims. The man said ‘yes bring my family’, so I came early,” said mom of six, Annmarie Castellano.

Teelucksingh said they had also sent word through “the disaster management units at the various corporations and through their volunteers on the ground”.

Saturday’s event, he said, was incident free and entailed a basic registration of each family unit, who then went through the items and took those needed. Each family, though, he explained, was allowed one bag of clothing from each section, as well as one “food pack”. If a family was large, they were given two food packs, said Teelucksingh.

More than 15,000 pieces of clothing were distributed, along with 1,000 food packs, he added.

The items were organised in a “department store” settings and consisted work suits, shoes, belts, handbags, clothing for babies, children and adults.

The not for profit organisation is four years old and has a core membership of 15 people, who plan and organise events to assist the less fortunate or people affected by natural disasters. Its membership, he said, is made up of people between the ages 25 to 40. Volunteers, noted Teelucksingh come from across the country.

On that note, Teelucksingh expressed gratitude to the hard-working volunteers who had sorted and organised the items.

“A special thank you to the NCIC, the National Council for Indian Culture, for partnering with us to make this all possible. To the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service and all others who assisted us in making the event a success and for allowing us the chance to be able to help others,” said Teelucksingh.