Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can; No need for greed or hunger, A brotherhood of man; Imagine all the people, Sharing all the world...
Inspired by these iconic lines by John Lennon, four friends got together to reduce the gap between the haves and have-nots. “For the longest time, we were doing a lot of activities individually, but everywhere we went, people would ask where we were from,” says Melisha Noronha, a Bengaluru-based HR professional, one of the four. “We realised we needed an identity and that’s how we registered ourselves as a trust. We called ourselves the Imagine trust.”
With Vinod Lobo, a corporate communications expert, Nitin Kumar, an HR professional and Vignesh, a product designer, Imagine would engage in activities such as audiobooks for the blind, teaching English through music and inculcating eco-awareness among children. Several years ago, Nitinhad successfully worked out a scheme based on the premise that people should be able to receive clothes with dignity.
A shopper at the Clothes Bank | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
“Instead of being saddled with hand-me downs which left them with no choice in terms of colour, size, style or fit, we imagined a platform where people could take what they wanted,” says Melisha.
“Honestly, we shop a lot more than we use, outgrow sizes a lot faster than we should and somehow think we’re doing a great job by donating our clothes to the help. Just because they are not financially able, it doesn’t mean they have to wear what they don’t like.”
While Imagine provided them with a platform to pick stuff of their choice, “We wanted to add an element of dignity to the proceedings — that it was not charity but something they paid for themselves.’”
A shopper at the Clothes Bank | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
All the outfits at Imagine’s Clothes Bank cost ₹1 (one rupee).
“It certainly doesn’t help with our expenses and since there is no way you’ll get a pair of jeans for that price, it eliminates that angle of charity. Buyers can feel pride that they’re not wearing hand-me-downs but clothes they ‘bought’ by choice,” she says.
As altruistic as this sounds, Imagine’s reasoning goes deeper than a feel-good factor. “We believe poverty is disguised; we may not always be able to identify who is poor or who isn’t,” says Melisha, citing how someone in debt or recently laid off may not be able to keep up with children outgrowing their clothes.
“Our groundwork for the Clothes Bank turned out to be a real eye-opener. Slums are well taken care of by various NGOs — they experience such an excess of goods that they pick what they want and throw the rest. Our target audience is the lower middle class who are in need but won’t ask for help.”
While the Trust does not question people who visit the Bank, “the only check we do is we ask people to bring in their Aadhaar card to limit the number of times they come — once in two months. Every time they come in, they can pick 10 items of their choice.”
Over the years, the Clothes Bank has expanded to include toys, household items, bags and stationery. But, there is a filtering process at work here. Notebooks and stationery are accepted, while textbooks and storybooks are not. “Our shoppers have no use for CBSE or ICSE material or Geronimo Stilton’s adventures.”
While the team welcomes all kinds of clothes, they draw the line at frayed, worn and damaged items. “Your role doesn’t end with a donation. When somebody is receiving it with dignity, make sure you give it with dignity. I always ask two questions., ‘Would you wear what you’re donating? Would you like the receiver to know this came from you?’ If not, it doesn’t qualify to be on our racks.”
Shoppers at the Clothes Bank | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Still, about 15% of the total clothing that comes in is usually categorised as waste due to overuse. “We try and upcycle these into pillows and doormats, while the rest that can’t be reused or upcycled goes into scrap. As of now we are a zero-waste organisation.”
While people can drop clothes off at the Bank from 9am to 1pm, Monday through Saturday, clothes can only be purchased on Sundays. Apart from two staff members who man the Bank during the week, the entire project is run by the efforts of volunteers — both at the Bank where they help customers and at their places of residence where they organise donation drives.
For more details log on to https://www.theimaginetrust.org/project-clothbank.html
Shoppers at the Clothes Bank | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Members of Imagine Trust (From L-R) Vignesh, Vinod, Melisha and Nitin | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Published - March 03, 2023 11:19 am IST
