Two non-profits on their efforts to distribute clothes to the underprivileged during the festive season

The glow of pride and the look of condescension have never done much for charity. When the giver displays either or both of these, the receiver is devalued and dwarfed. When this happens, something in

The glow of pride and the look of condescension have never done much for charity. When the giver displays either or both of these, the receiver is devalued and dwarfed. When this happens, something intrinsic to charity is violated. It is the unspoken commitment to upholding human dignity, which places the giver and the receiver rightly on an even platform.

Through the processes that underpin their cloth distribution programmes, non-profits Thuli and Rajasthan Cosmo Club Foundation (RCCF) in their own ways ensure the receiver is hardly made to feel like one.

Thuli’s two stores — more specifically, their location — illustrate it. Both the Adyar and Vadapalani stores are situated in malls, thereby lifting up the profile of the receiver as they head into these stores to collect their once-in-six-months quota of free gently-used clothes.