[GTO]

We've stepped into 2023 quite comfortably. Let's add some joy to the lives of underprivileged children at the start of this year.

The plan is to visit a residential school just ahead of Bhiwandi. Some quick data points:

- This is a school for kids from tribal castes whose families cannot afford an education. There are 362 students at the school from standards 1st to 10th.

- The school provides free of cost education and living with basic amenities to all its students.

- The school receives a grant every year. On average, it is Rs. 900 per student per month. This has to include everything - food, clothing, books, hygiene products, etc.

- Here's a small pdf that the school has shared, giving some additional info - ATaGlance.pdf

Here's the plan!

- DRIVE your favourite car on Sunday, 5th February. Let's do what we do best, let's do what we love the most.

- Fill our boots up with supplies for these kids. Here's an apt time to show off your boot capacity!

- Reach the school in the morning and distribute everything that we have gotten for the kids / school.

- Be grateful for how blessed we are & share some love + care.

- The school is close to Shirole (Google Maps location) ~1 hour from Thane and approx 2 hours from central Mumbai.

- Post that, we'll get a nice brunch at some restaurant with fellow petrolheads, talk cars, and then have an enjoyable drive back home. Mini Punjab Grill seemed decent on Google (Link). If you have any better suggestions, please do mention them when we meet.

- You should be back home by early afternoon, so it's only half-a-Sunday. You have the rest of the day for family / social activities / Netflix / snoozing.

- Family / friends / spouses are most welcome, please bring them along.

What you can carry along to donate:

- No pressure, whatever you are comfortable with. Every little bit counts. Whether it's 1000 bucks worth of stuff, or 5000 (or more).

- The school recently lost a donor who used to supply them with sanitary pads for girls and that is a priority for them. The annual requirement is around 20,000 sanitary pads / napkins. So if you can pick something up in bulk, that'd be great.

- Kids also don't have a lot of sporting equipment, the school has a list that they wish to procure - sports list shirole final.pdf. If you have any sporting equipment that you're not using or think you can get from a store closeby, surely something to consider (football, cricket bat, badminton racket + shuttlecocks and related stuff).

- You can always carry some children's clothing or blankets that you don't use anymore. Winters can get chilly, so these items sure make a difference.

- Biscuits & chocolates: They're kids after all! Will surely bring a smile to their faces.

- Colouring books, stationery, crayon sets, school-related supplies, etc.

- School bags.

- Anything else that you want to give from your heart .

- Budget = Again, could be anything small or big. If you are comfortable with 1000 bucks worth of stuff, that's perfectly fine. 10000 bucks? That's alright too. There is no minimum or maximum here = your being there for the drive is what really counts. Remember, this is a school that provides free education, food and stay for hundreds of kids. Any help that you can provide directly will be more than appreciated.

- Please bring your own vehicle along (car or bike), instead of asking on this thread if you can ride as a passenger in someone else's car.

- Come on, join in on the fun. Will be a fun drive and more importantly, it will be a heartwarming experience. Spare a Sunday morning for the underprivileged, and spare a Sunday morning for a lovely drive with fellow BHPians.

Some pictures of the school kids:

[GTO]

Meeting details on Sunday, 5th February:

- 0700 hours on the service road just after Kanjurmarg flyover (Location). Easier for people coming from the Western side.

Or

- Approx 0800 hours, we meet outside Shreem Motors Stockyard. Easier for people coming from Thane and Navi Mumbai.

- It's approximately an hour-long drive to the school from Shreem Stockyard (School location).

- Please come on time as we will say hi's & hello's for a max of 10 - 15 minutes at each meeting point. If you are late, catch up with the group (we will be driving in a calm manner).

Confirmations:

1. GTO - Thar
2. Omkar - Swift

Some of the earlier drives - Team-BHP Meet & Food Donation Drive, Charitable drive to villages in Maharashtra, Mokhada Trip (Dist Thane) for a Cause, Back to Jawhar & Mokhada - again, for a Good Cause! Here are some pics from our last drive with BHPians:

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Team-BHP Meets section!

[v1p3r]

Is there any way people from out of town can contribute to the list and send it through BHPians who are going?

[GTO]

Originally Posted by v1p3r

Is there any way people from out of town can contribute to the list and send it through BHPians who are going?

Thanks very much for offering, bud. But to keep things simple and avoid potential problems, it's open only to those who can be physically present.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by GTO

What you can carry along to donate:

- No pressure, whatever you are comfortable with. Every little bit counts. Whether it's 1000 bucks worth of stuff, or 5000 (or more).

- The school recently lost a donor who used to supply them with sanitary pads for girls and that is a priority for them. The annual requirement is around 20,000 sanitary pads / napkins. So if you can pick something up in bulk, that'd be great.

- Kids also don't have a lot of sporting equipment, the school has a list that they wish to procure - Attachment 2389832. If you have any sporting equipment that you're not using or think you can get from a store closeby, surely something to consider (football, cricket bat, badminton racket + shuttlecocks and related stuff).

- You can always carry some children's clothing or blankets that you don't use anymore. Winters can get chilly, so these items sure make a difference.

- Biscuits & chocolates: They're kids after all! Will surely bring a smile to their faces.

- Colouring books, stationery, crayon sets, school-related supplies, etc.

- School bags.

- Anything else that you want to give from your heart .

We had done a similar drive (part of my employer's CSR initiatives) and the schools' (staff) requests/suggestions were mostly in line with what you have suggested above.

We had gone with a list of topics that different colleagues picked up to talk about in the school(s)
1. Explaining the importance of education and the different options beyond the school levels
2. Giving general overviews on what different job roles that we do (and/or our friends/family members do) and the resp. routes we all took to get there
3. Talk about social and environmental aspects that affect us all these days (they were quite aware on some of of these)
4. and a few other topics

Some of these topics were found quite interesting to the kids (especially the more aged ones). Just sharing - if in case it might be relevant for your visit.

[Sran]

The last time we did school donation in 2022, boys loved underwear. It is one of those things that you need and has no substitute. However, they are costly at 75 rs/piece for medium size, so we cut down on copies made of ruling paper instead gave blank paper copies.

In the pics we can see they have no slippers, at bulk they are priced 40rs/piece. These institutes provide all the basic amenities but personal items being costly are overlooked. The school may not need copies or books as many people donate it as they are cheap. If possible donate small pocket dictionaries, we got it for 66/piece, ratio being 1 for 3 students. Generally, these schools also do not provide pillow covers as normal cotton pillows costs just a bit more than covers. If planning to donate detergent powder, give small sachets, they are in comparison cheaper to 1kg packs and have less wastage even if kept improperly/opened.

Please talk to class 10th students as they are in need of career guidance and counselling. They are about to move out from that place and they need it badly.

Good Luck and happy journey.

[city2491]

Confirmations:

1. GTO - Thar
2. Omkar - Swift
3. city2491, revvsperminute - Innova Crysta

[Nair.V8]

Confirmations:

1. GTO - Thar
2. Omkar - Swift
3. city2491, revvsperminute - Innova Crysta
4. Nair.V8 - Thar

Will be joining from the first meeting point at 0700 hours on the service road just after Kanjurmarg flyover. Looking forward to this event.

[Rajjay]

Hats Off to our Mumbai team. This charitable drive will show our team's munificence.

[jigar1791@gmail]

Confirmations:

1. GTO - Thar
2. Omkar - Swift
3. city2491, revvsperminute - Innova Crysta
4. Nair.V8 - Thar
5. Jigar - Ciaz

[crdi]

Originally Posted by GTO

The annual requirement is around 20,000 sanitary pads / napkins. So if you can pick something up in bulk, that'd be great.

Do suggest the school authorities to conduct an awareness programme about using menstrual cups. Could reduce the requirements & associated disposal burden, significantly.

[ransomware]

Would have loved to join this drive (the 2nd meeting point is just 2 mins away from my place) but unfortunately I wouldn't be able to join as there is already planned family get together over the weekend.
But definitely would come for the next one, I am sure there will be many such drives.

All the best to everyone who is contributing

[ACM]

1. GTO - Thar
2. Omkar - Swift
3. city2491, revvsperminute - Innova Crysta
4. Nair.V8 - Thar
5. Jigar - Ciaz
6. ACM - Hexa (+Sis & BIL)

[ACMerchant]

Originally Posted by GTO

We've stepped into 2023 quite comfortably. Let's add some joy to the lives of underprivileged children at the start of this year.

Great initiative and since I have been to many of these schools would just like to add that apart from the things you are giving, Please spend time with them to talk about the different vocations and your experiences of life as will motivate them. As per my experience if you have informed the school authorities then mostly they will offer you their meal - it is simple and sumptuous.