Kerala - Pathanamthitta   

Students join hands for a noble cause

NOVEL GESTURE: The house donated to Kunjumol by students of Mar Thoma Higher Secondary School in Pathanamthitta.

PATHANAMTHITTA: In a novel charity gesture, the students of Mar Thoma Higher Secondary School (MTHSS) donated a house built at a cost of Rs. 70,000 to a homeless widow.

The house was built under the auspices of the National Service Scheme (NSS) unit at the school. The beneficiary was selected with the help of municipal councillors C.K. Arjunan and Anilkumar, said Sussy George, Principal of the school, who took the lead for the initiative.

“Compassion towards fellow-beings should be nurtured in young minds to counter the erosion of values in a globalised world and make them feel the glory of community living as well as charity,” she said.

The 100-member NSS unit at the school physically toiled for construction of the small building by organising a 10-day off-campus camp at the worksite in December last.

Kunjumol of Chanjuparackal at Maelei-Vettipram in the municipal limits, a widow with three small children who ekes out a living by doing menial work at a few local households, was identified as the beneficiary of the charity venture.

The students mobilised Rs.30,000 as teachers’ contribution and put in Rs.40,000 as students’ contribution. They held a food fest at the school during the Bakrid-Christmas season in December last and mobilised Rs.15,000. They brought home-made food items for the festival, ensuring their active involvement in the charity mission. The NSS volunteers helped in the concreting of the roof and wall construction and plastering.

Mar Thoma Metropolitan Joseph Mar Thoma handed over the key of the house to Kunjumol at a function held at the school on Monday. Samuel Jacob, school manager; Minto V, NSS programme officer; and student volunteer Mini Elizabeth; addressed the function.

The MTHSS NSS unit had also donated a library to an orphanage in the nearby village of Elanthoor and a wheel- chair to a physically challenged person a year ago.

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