KOCHI:“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give”, Winston Churchill once said. In this fast-paced world, one often forgets the meaning of these words and of the true essence of life. Intentionally or not, most of us turn blind to the sufferings of others. However, some among us choose a different path. They decide to bring in light in the lives of those in need. And SARSAS is one such group that has chosen the road seldom taken.
The joy of giving, and of easing the pain of others; these are the driving forces behind SARSAS. Save a Rupee, Spread a Smile, or SARSAS, a charitable organisation founded in 2011, based in Thiruvananthapuram, has come a long way since its inception. From livelihood support and shelter home visits to palliative care and disaster relief, this group does a range of activities aimed at wiping the tears of the downtrodden.
A group of friends joined together, collected money from among themselves to pay visits to old age homes with sweets and gifts; this is the story of the birth of SARSAS. In addition to this, the group provided formal education to children from shelter homes like Mahila Mandiram and Anantha Sai on weekends. Later, the group focused on life skill and personality training for these kids. “These tiny activities in time, gave way to bigger ones like blood donation camps that required more money and volunteers. Thus, SARSAS grew larger than our friends circle. It got registered as a charitable organisation in 2012 and started receiving donations,” says Harikrishnan V M, the secretary of SARSAS.
With more people volunteering to join, the organisation started to host bigger events. The first of the kind was TrivandRun, which was launched in 2014. That year, the charity run aimed at raising funds for 20 needy cancer patients at the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC). With the tagline ‘Go breathless for the helpless’, this event became a huge success, as many people came forward to participate. Since then, TrivandRun has become an annual event in which individuals, schools, universities and corporate firms take part. Every year, the funds collected goes to various institutions, which would then use it for their noble causes. This year, the amount collected was Rs 8.5 lakhs, which was donated to Regional Cancer Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.
“If someone asks us what we do, it would be hard to specify one thing. We are engaged in many activities simultaneously. I am in charge of the organ donation section. Likewise, there are many groups within SARSAS, that undertake various other tasks,” says Aswani D S, an executive member of SARSAS.
Other than health and nutrition, mentoring and educational activities are given prime importance by SARSAS. With the help of the donations, students are sponsored and libraries are set up. Through a Voice Donation project, SARSAS has become the eyes of visually challenged students by creating audio books. Apart from these, other community services like development projects in rural areas and clean up drives are also hosted by the organisation.
Under the presidency of Deepa A, the organisation now boasts around 64 volunteers, who work towards fulfilling the motto of their institution and even volunteer for events conducted by other NGOs. Harikrishnan says, “Something that began as a small-scale venture, SARSAS has now become an important face in the field of social service in the capital city. It is all because of group work, everyone in this group is a volunteer, and there is no difference when it comes to that. We all work together to achieve holistic development of the society.”
Fuelled by the passion to serve the helpless, this group of youngsters is active at organising and planning events all through the year. With their work, they bring the city dwellers together and help to make the lives better for those who have it hard. Like the old saying goes, every drop counts and every single rupee that is saved can indeed save a smile, this has been proven by the social activities of SARSAS.