Bengaluru: In our busy lives, we tend to forget that it takes only an instant to change everything. There are those whose lives we can transform through a single act of kindness. And despite having the resources, most of us lack the time.
27-year-old Anushka Jain decided to tap into this, with a social venture called Share at Door Step, which provides free door-to-door pickup services for donations, delivering them to NGOs based on their requirements. “My mother used to donate clothes on my birthday to NGOs and it made me wonder why I couldn’t do this all the time. That’s how this idea came to me,” said Anushka who began her venture in 2011.
The venture was based on three premises: First, people are too busy to donate; second, there is a big gap between NGOs and people as they don’t know the requirements. Lastly, there is no easy way to make a monetary donation. That’s why Jain founded her venture, where people simply need to schedule their pickup in advance. “Initially, I did 200 pickups myself and spoke to people, said Jain. “That’s how I understood the nuances of making this work.”
Jain now has some 150 volunteers, most of whom are college students, apart from collaborations with NGOs. “I have some strict standards that both NGOs in our network need to follow,” she says, citing various cases where the donations didn’t reach those who needed it. “For transparency, we send a receipt or note and also a picture of the product being received at the NGO.”
“We coined the idea of Share At Door Step in 2011. We noticed that we have doorstep services for almost everything, but nothing catering to our pursuit of inner satisfaction, which comes from making other people happy,” Jain remarked. Her team now gets around twenty-five pick up requests daily and has some 25 NGO partners and three corporate clients.
All one needs to do is contact SADS via mail, on the phone or through Facebook to connect with the volunteers. “As soon as we receive the notification saying you want to make a donation, we contact you and fix an appointment that suits you,” she explains. She added, “We have the requirement lists from different partner NGOs. We map and segregate the donations according to their requirements. After basic levels of audit and verification, we send the donations to the respective NGOs and credit your account with share points (within a week).Also we will mail you the receipt and the snaps (if applicable) in 5 working days.”
How do you make an appointment?
You just need to fill in your details by clicking on the “schedule an appointment” tab and they will contact you to confirm your appointment as per your convenience. They will deliver the donations to the NGOs and send you the confirmation receipt.
Does SADS charge donors for the pickup service?
No, we do not charge donors for the pickup service. It's FREE.
What are the causes supported by SADS?
They work with underprivileged kids, people with disabilities and children with HIV / AIDS
What can you donate?
Any item that you think can be reused. The list includes clothes, unused notebooks and stationery, electronic goods, shoes, toys and household items
