Want to give away things? Here’s the group that bridges the gap

Started in April by a group of like-minded people, Bridge Pune is a social initiative that connects people who want to give away things with groups that need them and can use them. Their process of waste collection and redistribution is quite simple. Every month, the group connects with an NGO that is in need of a particular thing – from toys to food and from newspapers to stationary items, and so on. Thereafter, the members launch a collection drive after which they pass on the collected material to the needy NGO.

Moushami Kuvawalla, one of the members to start the initiative, says, “The thought was born out of my experience of working with a group that dealt with eco-friendly products for which they collected raw materials from different sources. That’s when I decided to do something in which I could involve more people and literally bridge the gap between people who wanted to ‘give’ things and those who ‘needed’ them.”

Kuvawalla says they were just three women when the group was launched in April. Now, it has nine women members from different professions, some homemakers as well.

So far, Bridge Pune has launched several such drives. For instance, they collected warm clothes for an old age home and a shelter for Pune; used but usable sports equipment for schools under Teach for India campaign, grocery and food supplies for patients of Prashanti Cancer Care Mission, clothes and food for Samrasta Gurukulam, stationery for Sarva Seva Sangh and Maher, clothes, footwear, clothing accessories for various community centres that support the underprivileged and so on.

Likewise, in April, the group collected various items for victims of earthquake in Nepal. These included water bottles, instant food, rations, tents, sleeping bags, tarpaulins, blankets, torch, toiletries, chlorine tablets, sanitary pads, first aid, medicines, stretcher and so on.

Kuvawalla says the awareness about each collection drive is raised through the Facebook page of Bridge Pune. Collection of items works both ways – the interested parties can either pass on the materials to Bridge member himself/herself or have it collected by the member. The group also shares contact numbers of the NGO in need of the material so that people can directly contact them.

Talking about the challenge involved in the initiative, Kuvawalla says, “People should ideally segregate the items in the proper manner before donating. For instance, if one is giving plastic bottles or plastic bags, one shouldn’t give the dirty ones and expect us to clean it.”

Talking about future plans of Bridge Pune, “Alongside with our current work, I plan to get associated with projects for empowerment of women and contribute in whatever way we can.”