Donate Baby’s Old Clothes:Think Wishing Well

So your baby has outgrown his/her baby clothes and accessories? Put them to good use and earn some good karma. We profile Wishing Well, one such mom-recommended service for helping your baby’s old stuff come to use for another child in need. In conversation with Arshan and Arti Vakil, the founders of Wishing Well.

“In 2005, we started a mobile library for children, which was a huge success. Whilst collecting books we found many people asking the question of where they can donate other things. People were interested in the organisations we were running the mobile library at and were keen to donate other items and volunteer their time. Project Wishing Well was thus born.

The mobile library opened our eyes to the need to connect volunteers and donations to NGOs. In a city like Mumbai there are several organisations but it is not always easy to donate your time or your possessions to a cause which you can relate to. Similarly there are several organisations doing wonderful work but their needs are not clear nor do they have the manpower to sort out donations, or find the right resource, volunteer or donor. Wishing Well is an attempt to bridge this gap by matching volunteers, services and donations with the needs of NGOs.

The thrust of our activities are as follows:

1. Collection of new and second-hand goods. This includes toys, books, clothes, electronics, furniture etc. We take any item that is in a condition to be used. We then sort through our donations and send the items to the appropriate organisation from our network of NGOs.( The list of NGOs can be found on our website www.wishingwellonline.org.) We have had the opportunity of setting up libraries, providing NGOs with toys, clothes, furniture etc. We have found institutions to take rare Marathi books, art catalogs, hospital equipment and other niche items. We try and arrange for collection between Colaba and Bandra.

Donors are requested to contact us on 9821127654 /9167535978 or email us on arshan@wishingwellonline.org so that we can try and work out a convenient collection.

2. Organising collection drives and campaigns for donors and institutions. The drives are for money as well as for donations in kind.

3. Organising volunteers for organisations and finding individuals or institutions volunteering opportunities.

4. Connecting resources and donors to institutions.

This project has gained much momentum and we have been able to give many institutions the benefit of:

a) Attending workshops at the Museum, NCPA, NGMA and other institutions

b) Attending shows at the NCPA and other entertainment hubs

c) Outings to different places of interest

d) Help in organising birthday, Christmas and other festive parties

Our philosophy is to share our resources so that the maximum people can benefit. You can check out more details on our site http://www.wishingwellonline.org.”