Schoolgirl donates umbrellas, fans to street vendors in Tiruchi

Tiruchi school girl gifts umbrellas and fans to street vendors in need, showcasing her dedication to helping the community.

While Tiruchi’s residents have retreated indoors to beat the heat, a school girl M.P. Sugitha has been going out, looking for street vendors who are insufficiently protected against the sunshine, and gifting them umbrellas and handheld fans.

Ms. Sugitha, a Class X student of St. Joseph’s Anglo-Indian Girls’ Higher Secondary School, and recipient of the State Award for Girl Child Empowerment this year, has an abiding interest in helping the poor and needy since the age of 10.

For the past five years, the resident of Ranjithapuram neighbourhood has been donating bedsheets, clothes and footwear to socially disadvantaged people, with the support of her family.

She has won prizes for her expertise in the traditional martial art of silambam and is currently learning competitive gun shooting.

The recent hot weather in Tiruchi inspired her to shortlist 100 pavement stall holders who needed help to make their workday bearable.

As of Sunday, Ms. Sugitha has gifted umbrellas and fans to 50 peoples, and is now waiting for stocks to be replenished. “I find it painful to see men and women sitting out in the hot sun, sweating profusely while trying to sell vegetables, fruits or flowers, so the best way I could help them is with an umbrella and a fan,” the 15-year-old told The Hindu.

Helping her in the task is her college-going brother Sujit, and their father R. Mohan, who runs a printing press in Tiruchi.