Journalism of Courage
This bunch of students from the MIT college of engineering have discovered some simple and effective modes of charity fund-raising
What began as a way of making a few extra bucks,is now a small effort towards lending a helping hand to a few orphans. For this group of students from MIT College of Engineering (COE),selling their old textbooks to juniors or collecting unused pizza coupons are all fund-raising efforts.
While the thoughts had occupied their minds since November,the plans finally took off in the first week of February. As the University of Pune changed its syllabus last year,we cant sell our books this year. Only the students from this year onward can hand over their books to juniors, says Abhinay,a final year student of MIT COE. All hopes are that the juniors will carry on the work that was started by them. Yogesh Vasantrao Gupte,a first year student of MIT COE,however,does not expect others to follow or help him. I will be more than happy if I can inspire a few of my friends. But then,it is each to his own, says Gupte.
Gupte had begun by collecting coupons for himself,after a parcel of pizzas had been ordered by a few friends in his hostel. After eating once,it was unlikely that they would go back within a few days to the same eatery just to use up the coupons that would bring some discount. End result they were thrown away. But then he thought,what if someone else wants to use them? With these unused coupons,Gupte has raised R 8,500 in three days. He plans to reach out to more orphanages once he crosses the R10,000 mark.
With this in mind he went to one of the most prominent pizza parlours in the city and decided to collect the coupons that people throw away. I started sifting through their dustbin kept near the parking area for the unused coupons. When I saw people entering the place,I would go up to them and offer them the coupons through which they could avail discounts. In return I asked them,if they would like to donate even a small amount that they save at the cash counter for Apala Ghar,an orphanage at Warje, explains Gupte. While about 10 percent of those who came to eat there offered to donate money even without the coupons,there were others who did not like to be bothered and ignored him. Gupte feels that today nobody wants to shell out money for charity,but if you can tell them that you will help them save money,there will be many takers for it.
To add credibility to his intentions,Gupte wears his college uniform and stands with a paper saying,Working for orphans,please help. Initially he began alone,but now he has three of his classmates who stand on the street and give out coupons to whoever wants to eat pizzas.
