Blankets for the poor in Delhi

I received this as a forward. Delhiites who would like to pitch in can please contact Snigdha directly:

Share a blanket! Share warmth and love!

A hot cup of tea/coffee, cosy bed, lots of blankets and loving family members make our winters warm and comfortable. But for hundreds of homeless people living on the streets in Delhi winters mean harsh and chilly nights, inadequate covering, illness, thus adding onto their daily battle for survival.

In a bid to share warmth and love with these people we have started distributing blankets this season. Yesterday was the first day and we had gone to ISBT from Pitampura via Punjabi Bagh and Azad Market area. On our way, we saw many people sleeping on the roadside pavements, under the bridge & flyover, on the road dividers and even on/under bus-stop seats. Some of them had blankets to cover themselves (but definitely not enough to beat the chilly weather), some barely had a sheet or cloth piece, some only had plastic sheets to wrap themselves and some had nothing. There was a man who had covered upper half of his body with his jacket as probably that was the only warm thing he had. It was a heart-rending sight. I felt as if I had never experienced low temperature.

We could give blankets to only some of the people as we dint have enough. We had to return with the images of expecting eyes in our hearts and minds but we did promise ourselves to go again with more blankets.

Your support in this regard would be most appreciated. You can help us by giving any number of blankets or money (Rs. 150 per blanket). Blankets are available in the market for even less than 150 but after some research on the quality and prices of different blankets, we found it to be the best buy. But please feel free to help us in any which ways. There is no deadline and you can give as per your convenience but would request you not to delay too much. It would be nice if you could inspire and ask your family and freinds to contribute as well. We plan to make more trips across Delhi and the next one will be tomorrow to ISBT again. Thereafter we will take different routes.

Heartfelt thanks to Rita Arora, Ashu Jain, Satya Jain, Madhu Taneja, Arti Loria, Monica, Priyanka and Anita Jain for their generous contributions in the form of blankets and/ money.

Please feel free to contact me to know or discuss anything. I look forward to your support and contribution to spread warmth and love this winter season :)

PS: Attached are some pictures that we had taken yesterday.

Regards
Snigdha Jain
prathamsnigdha@gmail.com