ALAPPUZHA : Weddings are special. They are also an expensive affair with everything, from the venue and food to the dresses and decorations, driving up expenses.
For economically-backward families who struggle financially in arranging the wedding of their dreams, the Fr Davis Chiramel Charitable Trust has come up with a solution – a Green Park auditorium.
Opened at Koratty in Thrissur, the open auditorium is apt for financially-distressed families looking for a space to organise marriages or other big events. Trust chairman Rajan Thomas said there is also a cloth bank at the location, where high-quality dresses for the bride and the groom are available.
But that’s not even the best part. What sets the initiative apart is that everything – the auditorium and the clothes – are available for free!
“The trust is providing the auditorium and other service free of cost to people from economically-backward classes,” Rajan said. On the cloth bank, he said all the dresses were donated by people.
“The cloth bank in Koratty has a range of dresses, including wedding robes priced between Rs 2,000 and Rs 50,000,” Rajan said.
He said the trust has also set up a Miyawaki forest, play area for children, open gymnasium for the elderly and a market selling agricultural products sourced from farmers who are cultivating vegetables in the courtyard. All this is, again, free. “There is no entry fee or charge for any of the service,” Rajan said. Fr Davis said land for the facility was donated by generous people. “No money was received as donation to develop the plot. It was done via sponsorships from people who provided materials or arranged various services,” he said.
Expat Malayalees form the major chunk of donors of the trust, which started functioning three years ago. It pooled around `10 crore between March 2021 and March 2023 for providing various services.
Fr Davis said they plan to expand the projects across the state. They have already received land as donations and began the process of constructing more Green Parks.
Rajan said the cloth bank, mooted by the trust four years ago even before it officially came into existence, currently has seven branches across five districts – Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Palakkad, Thrissur, and Ernakulam.
“Many people buy costly dresses for events, wear it once or twice and then lock them away in safes. Now, several are coming forward to donate the clothes. Some of those who take clothes from the cloth bank give some money as donations, while some use it for free. There is no restriction of any kind; people are free to use it however they like,” Rajan said. The income generated by the cloth banks in the five districts is used to provide food to destitute homes in Central Kerala, he said.
Housing project
Fr Davis said the trust is also constructing houses for the poor in Thrissur, Ernakulam, Kottayam, Kannur, Pathanamthitta, Palakkad and other districts in Kerala as well as in Adilabad in Telangana. “Construction of 40 houses is on at these places,” he said.
Rajan said the trust is identifying beneficiaries and forming a committee comprising local people and beneficiaries. “Sponsors directly transfer funds to the committee’s account. This way, we built around 200 houses in three years,” he said.