Old newspapers gold for patients

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posted on 12 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Some 250 families of Mar Thimotheus Church, Nellikkunnu, a parish under the Chaldean Syrian Church are doing this service by selling an item collected from every household old newspapers.

Championing a noble cause requires a compassionate heart and novel ideas much more than money. Hence a parish in Thrissur has been helping dialysis patients for about a year even without investing a single paisa in the project.

Some 250 families of Mar Thimotheus Church, Nellikkunnu, a parish under the Chaldean Syrian Church (The Assyrian Church of the East in India), are doing this service by selling an item collected from every household — old newspapers.

This initiative has caught the imagination of all sections of people, irrespective of religion, and they are coming forward to support it by giving away their old newspapers freely.

Fr. Thomas Thermadam, the vicar, said that the endeavour was started in 2011 as part of ‘Share and Care,’ an organisation for undertaking social work in the parish.

“When we thought of helping dialysis patients, this was the first option that cropped up. We knew that people would not be tentative to give up their old newspapers, magazines and notebooks for such a good cause. Besides, this venture does not involve any investment,” he said.

The money collected from the sale of the newspapers and magazines is used to make coupons of Rs 500. So far they have helped about 250 dialysis patients.

Tomy Jose, joint secretary, ‘Share and Care,’ said that after making arrangements with the hospitals concerned, the coupons are distributed to the patients who are in dire need of dialysis.

In just one-and-a-half months, they could procure about two tonnes of paper.

“About Rs 20,000 could be garnered by selling two-and-a-half tonnes of old newspapers, magazines and used notebooks,” he said.

It also does not involve complicated procedures as the parish would pay the amount in advance to the hospitals concerned. “The patients only have to produce the coupons in the hospital,” church officials said.

Regarding the selection of patients, the hospital authorities would provide them the list of patients who need dialysis. “Priority is given to those who need the treatment at the earliest,” they said.