Selling lottery tickets, they give this family a shelter

Selling lottery tickets was what a group of college students did to raise money for a family to build a house.

Volunteers of the Young Energetic Souls to Save (YESS), a collective of youths in Thiruvananthapuram, had taken up many community initiatives over the past one year. But the initiative to build a home was a different experience for the 75-odd active members of the group.

A newspaper report about the collapse of a house at Vellayani had prompted them to come in aid for a family of five.

“Sleepless nights, long discussions, and failed plans,” they described the ‘house’ project. But the satisfaction of seeing it through was more than they anticipated. For, the housewarming of the house they pooled in their resources to build for the family was held on Thursday.

On their maiden visit to Vellayani they had found the residents sheltered by little more than a propped up tarpaulin sheet. “In one visit, it was obvious they were in dire need of support. There was only one bed in the house. The family’s sole breadwinner Sivankutty has a temporary job as driving instructor. He has a daughter and a son, who is not well, and an elderly mother,” said a volunteer, Haleem Fathima. With limited funds, they hit upon an idea of raising money through an unusual route — selling lottery tickets.

A group of volunteers fanned out on the Attukal pongala day, when the city was teeming with devotees from across the State and beyond. Their cause struck a chord with many as they earned over Rs.1 lakh that day. They also linked Sivankutty with the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) scheme, a Union government scheme which provides financial support for building homes for the urban poor.

The students were guided in their endeavour by an NGO, Sevakendram, and the house was completed in six months. YESS had held blood donation drives, distributed food for the poor, and is sponsoring the fee of two students.