Cloth Collection Drive

Around 170 million, almost two thirds of people living in rural areas in India are poor. Clothes are of utmost necessity and can be the difference between life and death for poor people. Aimed at making the chilling winter a warm one for the poor and also to get the best out of the waste, NSS IIT Roorkee organized a cloth collection drive on Sunday, 17th February, 2013 in the campus of IIT Roorkee.

The Cloth Collection initiative of NSS IIT-R headed by the EMP cell was slated to be a two day event, with a publicity drive on 16^th February followed by cloth collection and sorting on 17^th. But due to the rain-marred first day, the publicity phase was unfortunately cancelled. To make up for the low publicity, hordes of student volunteers, approximately 500 of them, gathered for the extended cloth collection session starting at 9.30 am on Sunday. These students were then divided into numerous teams and sent to different locations for cloth collection. Apart from the 9 boys hostel, 2 girls hostel and the single married persons’ hostel, the teams went to many other locations including Niti Nagar, Saraswati Kunj, Hill view, Canal View, Vigyan Kunj, Govind Puri, Aamod Path,  Vikas Kunj, Khosla, Azad wing, GP Hostel, C-Class Club. One could trace the smile of joy on the faces of IITR students, professors and staff who willingly donated their old clothes. The enthusiasm and effort of the NSS team was well appreciated by them. The cloth collected from each of these locations were deposited at the Mandi cell in IIT Roorkee with the help of a vehicle which proved to be a very versatile and efficient addition to the event.  The collection of clothes went on from 9.30 am till about noon and was followed by sorting and packing of clothes which extended up to 6 in the evening.

A whooping 2500 kg of clothes, ranging from sweaters to shoes, were collected and sorted on Sunday. The distribution of clothes will be carried out later this year by the NSS team in Chandighat, a perennially flood affected area of Haridwar. 

Collage Making Competition

Prerna cell, of NSS IIT Roorkee, organized a collage making competition for its students on 3^rd Feb. i.e. Sunday. Children started arriving at 10:30 am. Meanwhile, the seniors put up the banners in the lawn, where the competition was to take place. The banners had itself been made by collage to inspire the students and give them ideas. Competition started at 11:30 am. Everyone was given white charts, glue and some newspapers. The basic concept was to make a collage on any topic using newspapers and glue only. The students were assisted by the volunteers of first year for selecting theme and making collage. Finally the winners were decided on the basis of their collage and their explanation of their theme.

About 45 students turned up for the event, all of whom brimming with excitement. Some had thought of their themes beforehand only. In the hour that followed, you could see everyone lost in their work-cutting, pasting, etc. The air was full of creativity. There were wide varieties of themes-from Save Environment, Go Green to Women Empowerment, Indian Army. Finally seniors short listed some of them like-Women Empowerment, Save Trees, Dream India, Sports, etc. Lastly, the ex-secretary of Prerna and Prof. G.K Kumbhar of Electrical Department listened to the explanations of the shortlisted candidates. After much discussion, the selected collages were- Saving Women, Indian Army and Save Trees respectively. Winners were awarded with prizes such as sketch pens, crayons etc. Everyone was given chocolates for their active participation. All in all, it was an interesting Sunday.