UWI Law Society donates appliances to families in need

THE UWI St Augustine Law Society is seeking donations of appliances to help families whose homes were destroyed by fire.

For the appliance drive, which was launched in late November, no appliance is too big or small to donate.

Co-ordinating the initiative is the society’s charity and outreach chair Chelsea Elli Nandlal, who recently spoke to Newsday.

A third-year law student at the St Augustine campus, Nandlal is responsible for co-ordinating the society’s charity initiatives for the 2020/2021 academic year.

“I was recently going through Facebook and looking at the news when I saw some people’s houses were burnt down by fires.

“I told my team (on the society) we need to do something about this and try to help these families in some way,” said Nandlal on what inspired the drive.

While she said the society wanted to help the families rebuild their homes, that was an enormous task. So it settled on the appliance drive.

Families to be assisted, by the donations collected in the drive have been identified from news reports and social media posts.

“So far, we have two families whose houses we saw were burned down. We are collecting this stuff for them – hopefully we get enough.

“From what we’ve seen, these families that we are targeting right now have absolutely nothing at all.”

While only two families have been identified, Nandlal said the number of families assisted may increase if enough appliances are donated.

For example, the society is hoping to receive donations of fans, stoves, refrigerators, washing machines, and microwaves. Furniture like beds and ironing boards is also welcome.

Given the drive was recently launched, no appliances have so far been collected.

But Nandlal said now more than ever is a great time to donate appliances. Why?

“Around Christmas, people may just want to get stuff out of their house while cleaning.

“This is the perfect opportunity where people can give their used appliances to us for people who really need it.”

Not only will giving honour the Christmas spirit but it will also help give new purpose to items people may no longer need.

Nandlal said the society is willing to collect appliances from interested donors. People willing to make cash donations can do so and the money will be given to the families to purchase appliances.

Books and clothing will also be donated. These items were collected during separate drives hosted by the society in October.

“We collected a monumental amount of clothing. So we are going to donate some of the clothing to the families (targeted by the appliance drive) as well.

“For the families with kids…we intend on giving the families books if they need them.”

The society’s October clothing drive was done to help the socially displaced in Chaguanas and Venezuelan migrants.

In the future, the society is looking at ways to help the families prperly rebuild their homes. Ideas to make this happen include getting volunteers to visit the homes and work on them.

Nandlal is reminding people of the importance of giving freely, especially given that many socio-economic challenges faced by underprivileged families have been exacerbated by covid19.

"My love and passion for charity work was fostered during my time at Naparima Girls' High School.

"The school's motto is
Non Nobis Solum Sed Omnibus which translates to 'Not for ourselves only, but for all.'"

“If you have the means to help someone, then I think you should try your best to help someone.

“The pandemic just makes some situations way worse for people, Once you can donate, you should.”

Assisting Nandlal with the drive is Dominique Assim, who is also a member of the society’s charity and outreach committee.

The UWI Law Society is the student body representative for students in the faculty of law at the UWI St Augustine Campus. The society’s charity and outreach committee provides the faculty’s students with the opportunity to engage in volunteer experiences.

Throughout the academic year, charity initiatives are done in six categories: education, health, international NGOs, the environment, animal welfare and arts/culture. In each week, a committee of the society commits to an act of charity in one of the categories.

On Sunday, the society hosted a beach clean-up at Manzanilla.

People interested in donating to the drive can contact Nandlal at 267-4286 and Assim at 330-0139.

The UWI Law Society can also be found on Instagram @uwi.lawsociety.coc and on Facebook at Law Society: Charity and Outreach Committee.