PATNA: At a time when the youths prefer to spend their leisure time in fun and frolicking, dozens of students in Patna are setting a benchmark in social responsibility by rendering yeoman services to hundreds of poor kids.
They have formed an association called "Helping Hand-Friends Club"(HHFC) started by Gaurav Abhishek. The HHFC runs four centres at different locations wherein hundreds of kids from extremely poor families from slums and localities are tutored free of cost with study stationary materials.
The college students from different colleges contribute from their own pocket money to run the club, besides donations from people who are impressed ar their services.
"We are still pursuing higher education but thought it better to educate the poor kids in our leisure or off times, instead of wasting time in useless pursuits," said Gaurav Abhishek, adding that classes for poor kids are held in the evening for a year. It was he who first initiated this social movement with youths of Patna. He said the HHFC members share happiness with the kids of poor families from normal day to festive days.
"Free medical check up camps, evening tutorial classes, providing study materials, imparting training to self-defence, exploring their latent talents in whichever fields they like to go, taking them to the zoo, to educational trips in Patna are some prominent activities of HHFC," he said.
Anamika Singh, one of those youths running the HHHF said: "The kids, mostly girls from extremely poor and underprivileged sections, are getting empowered not only by education but by getting trained in self-defence too. Our initiatives under social responsibility are to bring changes in the lives of all those kids, who are neglected, overlooked and beyond going to good schools."
She said her tutorial classes are held between 4.30 pm and 6.30 pm on Boring road, Rajvanshi Nagar and another two areas.
Utkarsh Raj, another motivator with the HHF, said that poor kids have no dearth of talent but what lacks is opportunity to them.
"We educate them, we motive them, we support them because we want to make become better in their lives," he said, adding that kids out showed their talents in a recent cultural programme.
The members of HHFC had also rendered their services during the flood of this year wading through waist-deep water in Patna and other districts flooded.