BANGALORE: On the eve of Christmas, If you have forgotten to buy something, gift wrap the same and place it under the Christmas tree, Ho ho ho! You are in trouble. But, blatant consumerism and jokes aside, people in the city seem to be at their charitable best as the year comes to an end. City Express takes a look into this phenomenon where a joyous coming together to celebrate with Christmas carols and rich fruit cake is converted into a fund-raiser.Take the case of the Christmas celebration at the Canadian International School. The students, parents and staff participated in full strength to put up a show, a celebration of sorts, to collect food, stationery and raise funds for a few charity organisations in Bangalore. Students from 37 nationalities got together to make cards and hollies. The highlight of the event was the Christmas choir. The concert featured a flute ensemble, piano duet, saxophone and recorders.Shops too realised the festive spirit of charity that was in the air and organised events to bring the charitable minds together. Several textile shops announced attractive discounts for those who bring in old clothes to donate to charity. “Even the fiercest sceptic who says it is just a marketing strategy will agree that the companies are using the ‘spirit of charity’ that is already in us and not the other way around,” says Lalitha Ramakrishna, who conducted a boutique sale in her shop called Weaves at J P Nagar.Booster Juice outlet on M G Road, on Friday, saw 30 kids from an international pre-school Kids Campus participating in their Toycember event. The children gave away new and old toys to charity and nearly 50 gifts were collected. The organisers said that these toys will be donated to the NGO Society’s care for the Indigent.Father Amar, St John’s Church, explained, “During this season, sarees and clothes are being distributed among members of the parish community. We also distribute rice and sugar. We hope people can cook their own food, even delicacies, on the festival day.”If these Indian examples were not proof enough, then we can refer to the case of an Australian family. The 11-member family is walking from the West coast of India (Kozhikode) to the East coast (Chennai). The website declares that they started “ their walk from Kozhikode in Kerala, crossed Mysore as their second milestone and have reached the garden city of Bangalore as their third destination of halt. The family has collected AUD 60,000 up till now and look forward to collecting more. The entire fund raised will be donated to ChildFund India for their projects in the country.”As the winter chill adds to the flavour of the season, there are those who distribute warm clothes to those who cannot afford them. Says Father Nathan, St Peter’s Church, “People in the parish donate blankets during this season. A few people knock on the church’s door in winter for blankets and I distribute it to them. Recently, we donated ration for more than 40 people and distributed gifts among children. It was a joint collaboration of many churches.”People in the city seem to be shopping to truly experience the joy of giving.
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