A bank providing medical equipment
A man desperately seeks a wheelchair for a family member for a short-term use, and it does not prove an easy search. Having witnessed this, a bunch of his friends from RYA Cosmo Elite Foundation start a medical equipment bank. This was ten years ago, and now, this bank boasts a horde of medical equipment at any given time, and it operates from a garage in Pulianthope. The medical equipment are either bought new or received as donation.
These medical equipment are lent on a no-cost basis to those in critical care at home. Wheelchairs, medical beds and oxygen concentrators are among the most sought-after items by families.
“We ask users to use a medical equipment for 30-45 days and return or renew it at least once so that they can keep it for a longer period of time,” says Aashish Kumar Jain CS, trustee of RYA Cosmo Elite Foundation, adding that at least 4,000 people have benefited from the bank over the years.
Physiotherapy devices are among the latest medical items to be added to the e-bank. Aashish says once a member of Rotaract Club was keen on supporting this initiative and he requested that the message on the bank accepting gently used items be circulated so that those in need are benefited. “We need support both in cash and kind, but one big help we would like to offer people is removing the burden of keeping medical items that are not needed any more and passing it on to someone in need,” says Aashish.
To check availability of items in the e-bank, call 7550077700
Old spectacles find new eyes
Old spectacles including those that have gone out of fashion are usually discarded, consigned to the garbage bins. A small number of non-profits and optical shops stop these spectacles from being wasted in this manner. They collect these spectacles and hand them over to organisations that can help in recycling them.
Kapleshwar Optics in T. Nagar, for instance, has a collection box for people to drop their old spectacles. They are generally picked up by a team from Lions Optical Bank.
Sankara Nethralaya has its own in-house optical service at College Road where old spectacles can be dropped. Based on the condition of the frame, they are repurposed to be reused by a needy patient coming to the hospital.
Likewise, outlets of GKB Opticals and Kalpavruksha Seva Trust in West Mambalam encourage people to give away their spectacles that are lying unused at home.
A note on Lenskart.com says that it runs an exchange programme that allows one to donate old glasses to someone in need via the Lenskart Foundation and get an exchange value on a new pair of glasses. All eyeglasses and sunglasses, irrespective of whether they were purchased from Lenskart or not are eligible for this offer, says the note.
The lens from the frames of donated spectacles are removed and after minor repairs, refitted and made ready for reuse. These spectacles are categorised on the basis of power and kept aside for camps.
Clothes and bicycles
* Sevai Karangal collects used bicycles and donates them to students in rural areas where public transport is inadequate; IIT-Madras is a major donor in this initiative. For details, WhatsApp 9840873859.
* Thuli receives gently used clothes and accessories, repurposes and offers them to the underprivileged. Its collection centre is at Kasturba Nagar. Call 6380306662.
* Rajasthan Cosmo Club Foundation picks up gently used clothes from the doorsteps; call 9962299622.
* Little Drops, a home for the homeless destitute at Paraniputhur, accepts anything from people. It encourages apartments to organise a collection drive and sends a van for the items to be transported. Call 9884080869/ 9884080864.
Unlike in the west, donation of old spectacles is losing traction out here for reasons such as cost incurred in refurbishing them.
For many years, Chennai-based Singhvi Charitable Trust was collecting old glasses from outlets, refurbishing them and distributing them at camps. Now, they only give away new spectacles.
‘SADS’ making people happy
Be it an oversized pair of shoes that you got as a gift or stationery received as return gifts or furniture not matching your living room, Share at Door Step (SADS) is ready to pick them up at your doorsteps and ensure they reach someone genuinely in need of them.
The pan-India non-profit that also caters to Chennai encourages people to donate their reusable items by availing the “doorstep pick up” option. The items thus collected are delivered to those who need them.
The charges for pick-up depend on the location, volume and mode of pickup.
The donations in kind reach the beneficiaries; through verified trusted partner NGOs, they are audited on a regular basis, says a note on the website.
For details, visit https://shareatdoorstep.com
Published – November 22, 2025 10:37 pm IST
