Fashioning a Change in the Charity World

Anusha Swamy was inspired by Gossip Girl to organise fundraisers for the underprivileged by selling upmarket clothing
Fashioning a Change in the Charity World

CHENNAI: A run-of-the-mill and mundane event can actually trigger an out-of-the-box idea, or so choreographer Anusha Swamy has learnt from her experience. Watching the TV show Gossip Girl, it struck her that fashion can actually make charity and fund-raising activities lot easier. Anusha, who is India’s youngest choreographer, began the Make a Change Trust and in its first venture, she raised funds from orders for custom-made dresses. Anusha, who put together a sale called  Made with Love — Shopping Festival, on Sunday at Sameena’s boutique in Kasi Arcade, is donating the money raised towards educating children, who are extremely brilliant, but need financial help to continue their education.

“Everyone wants to donate, even college students do. But they cannot donate large sums at once. Through such a sale, we can ensure that we meet the requirements of  at least a group of children, and people who contribute towards it are happy that they made a small change,” she tells us with a warm smile.

At the sale, it was a treasure trove of fashion with dresses, cropped tops, accessories and footwear at affordable prices.

Anusha says, “I have wanted to raise funds for many people for a long time now. A month ago, I sold around 10 dresses in order to raise funds to meet the educational requirements of   a few underprivileged kids. Around  two-thirds of the proceeds of this sale will go towards funding the education of the students, while one-third is for the material cost.”

While her latest sale over the weekend  however, was on for just a day, Anusha is looking at making the event a regular one.

“Depending on the success of the event, I am looking at organising similar events in the future. However, we will continue to take up customised orders for dresses at affordable rates to keep the funds coming in,” she says. You can place your orders through Make a Change’s Facebook page.

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