Here is an example to follow for all those youngsters who are keen on creating Facebook profiles, just to upload their heavily photoshopped pictures. A bunch of youngsters who met online have come together to form a charitable moment called ‘Facebookile Keralam (FK) Snehadeepam’ to help the needy in the state.
What began as a small social networking group was taken to an all-new level when they decided to create ‘Orkutile Keralam’ in 2010, back when Orkut was live and kicking. The group then comprised a countable number of members from across Kerala.
With Orkut losing its sheen, the group shifted base to Facebook and came to be known as ‘Facebookile Keralam’ (FK). The group, comprising young Malayalis across the country, slowly started gaining strength and currently has 1,858 members and around 50 to 70 active members. It was when these online friends finally decided to meet that the idea of a charitable trust named FK ‘Snehadeepam’ evolved.
Jithin Nair, managing trustee, FK Snehadeepam, says, “Our first meeting was at Janaseva Sisubhavan, Aluva, back in 2011. At that time we were not a registered trust; we were just a bunch of online friends who wanted to do something different for our get-together. Initially it was just a get-together with a difference. It was after the initial meeting that we started getting suggestions to form a registered trust.”
FK Snehadeepam was registered two years ago and since then all the active members of Facebookile Keralam have been donating money regularly for charity from their salary, shortlisting the organisations that require their help and making time to get together on a quarterly basis, no matter which part of Kerala they are in.
An average fund between Rs 30,000 and Rs 40,000 is collected from its members. As their seventh venture they have picked Nanma Charitable Trust in Kozhikode.
“We have decided to get together and help Nanma Charitable Trust at Parambil Bazaar on November 17. It is an orphanage run by 62-year-old Sumathiamma. The orphanage has around 20 to 25 girls and boys. FK Snehadeepam has decided to provide them with a few household appliances, mats, beds and clothes for the children,” says Jithin.
Till date, FK Snehadeepam has covered Janseva Sisubhavan, Aluva, Sabari Asramam, Palakkad, Sree Sankara Balasramam, Thiruvananthapuram, Mathru Sadanam, Guruvayur, Santhwanam Sevakendram, Puthoor, Kollam and Louis Braille School for the Blind, Kudayathoor, Thodupuzha.