For students my age, it’s time to go back to school and what does this mean? A new backpack, shoes and stationery. However, it is important for us to know that there are so many children around the world who cannot afford these things, which we throw away for newer ones.
The members of ‘Students For The Earth’decided to change that through their ‘Back to School’ event. We donated old school bags and stationery, which were undamaged, to a charity in Ajman who will then distribute this to needy children so that their school experience is parallel to any of ours. For us, they are just backpacks, but for some others they are a medium to make school life a bit more of an indispensable part of childhood.
The donation drive, which ran from July 28 to August 18, successfully managed to collect around 60 school bags of different sizes, a big box of notebooks, one box of different stationery items, including pens, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, rulers, colour pencils, sketch pens and note pads, which are necessary items used by students every day.
The organiser of this event was Sreelakshmi V., a member of the group.
She said: “I feel extremely happy that we could donate these items for a noble cause. Many children throw their used school bags when they start a new academic year, but we often forget that there are many who are less fortunate than us.”
Sukrithi Babu, another member of the group and a student based in Dubai, was also grateful for this opportunity to help someone in need.
She said: “From this campaign I learned that there are many children in this world who do not have enough means to live. Before throwing away any useful items, we should always think about them and contribute these items to charity associations.”
The event manager at the Ajman based charity said that she was extremely thankful to the youth group’s members for having undertaken such a noble activity.
It would be quite true to say that when something is donated for the sake of love and humanity, ‘smiles’ are donated. Just knowing that something you have donated to someone has made them smile makes you happy from within. That is the true philosophy of a donation.
‘Happiness lies in giving’ is a quote often lost on youngsters these days as they are always demanding something better to keep up with the passing trends. What about the old things? They end up in the trash and finally in the landfills when they could have been the reason for a smile.
It is through such a noble collision of humanity and creativity does the true spirit of charity arrive.
Our youth group is a well-knit organisation, which is a member of The Earth Charter International Youth Groups. With a strength of over 5,000 members, this charter shows how a cumulative effort by youngsters can go a long way and how it continues to strive for its aim, ‘small acts, big impact’ through such humanitarian, charitable, cultural and environmental events.
— The reader is a student based in Dubai.
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