San Ramon Student Varun Thakur Works for Relief Efforts and Hunger

“It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving”

—Mother Teresa

In June of 2016 Varun Thakur started an organization called Discharge with Dignity with an idea of donating clothes and shoes to give to hospital emergency trauma centers. Many patients brought to trauma centers have their clothing torn in the process of their treatment. While in hospital they are in gowns but at the time of discharge they need their own clothing, which may not be easy task for many poor and homeless patients. With his first donation drive he collected new and gently used shoes, to give to John Muir Hospital Emergency Trauma Center in Walnut Creek CA.

Varun then extended his donation drives to disaster relief operations renaming his organization as LIVING WITH DIGNITY. In November 2016 he collected new and gently used clothes and shoes for the Haiti hurricane affected people. Generous donations of new and gently used shoes and clothes rolled in but “shipping the collected supplies to Haiti was a challenge”- said Varun. He raised some funds from friends and family and mailed the boxes to the Love a Child -organization in Florida who then forwarded it to Haiti.

Driving on the streets and looking out Varun has decided to do a donation drive for the homeless. Recently he joined hands with an organization who do weekly feeding for the homeless in downtown San Jose. There was a long queue of people who gratefully collected bottled water and milk. “I am going to collect bags and boxes of clothes and shoes for the next donation drive”-Varun is counting on community support.

 

Editor’s note: If you would like to help/volunteer at Living with Dignity with donations of new or gently used clothes and shoes, contact Varun by email: [email protected]

 

  dignity, food for homeless, hunger, needy, San Ramon, Varun Thakur