Helping others in their time of need is an excellent way to connect with the community and people. This beautiful art of Volunteering is important because it enables individuals to help others selflessly. Volunteering is one of the most challenging yet rewarding opportunities that one will ever encounter. It gives the chance to bring a change in the people around.

Ashakiranam Cancer Care Campaign has been bringing numerous changes in the community through the spirit of Volunteerism. It is a way of giving back to the community while also developing essential social skills and gaining valuable experiences. That’s the reason Caritas India considered Volunteering as one of her important strategic pillars.

Ashakiranam Dress Bank is one such volunteer’s initiative by Wayanad Social Service Society (WSSS) functioning for the past 2 years in the Mananthavady Diocese of Kerala. This is a humanitarian venture in extending supportive hands through Ashakiranam women Volunteers. This endeavour provides dresses primarily to poor cancer patients and needy community people. These dresses are collected from different houses which are serviceable and not useable for them and kept in a separate room in WSSS. All the women volunteers made this an act of routine in a monthly schedule.

1300 Ashakiranam Volunteers are engaged in cancer care activities of WSSS to reduce the spread of cancer and support cancer patients. The thought of Ashakiranam Dress Bank emerged from the volunteers in their volunteering fieldwork by realizing the very fact many poor people in the community lack proper clothing, especially in the tribal belts. The idea of the Ashakiranam Dress bank was approved by the Diocesan Director in one of the Resource Team meetings that are conducted every quarter for planning the future activities for volunteers. A room was set up to keep the clothing the volunteers mobilized from the community. “Ashakiranam Dress Bank is truly a need-based intervention of WSSS under Ashakiranam campaign and we see a good number of people come and receives the benefit from this noble initiative and it has become one the milestone achievement of WSSS,” says Rev. Fr. Paul Koottala, Executive Director, Wayanad Social Service Society.

The logbook is kept in the Dress bank to record the volume of support extended by this initiative. Any needy person can come and take the clothing according to the requirement and mention the number of clothing in the logbook. In the same manner, if any person wishes to contribute, they can also freely approach and keep the clothing in the dress bank marking in the logbook. The logbook shows the quantity of clothing collected from the community and distribute among the poor with this campaign. The volunteers visit and hand over the dress to sick cancer patients. “For the past 2 years with the support of Volunteers thousand of usable dresses were collected and distributed. Every month volunteers bring clothes from their operational areas and share these services to more poor people” says Rev. Fr. Jinoj Palathadathil, Associate Ex. Director, WSSS.

“I feel very happy and joy by getting the opportunity to help those in need. The people are donating with a positive and happy mind, this in a way making changes in me and motivating me to involve more in this act,” said Mrs Shoba Edayoorkunnu, a volunteer while handing over the mobilized clothing to the Dress Bank.

During the pandemic season, the Dress Bank became a great relief to a good number of people who have struggled with Covid related unemployment and lockdown. These days, this noble initiative is appreciated by many people and the leading Media houses covered this news. More people are coming forward to donate their serviceable dresses to the poor and become partakers in the comprehensible service of WSSS.