A group of young men and women criss-crossed Gariahat on Tuesday evening to shop: not for themselves, but for 400 children in Purulia.

Parents of these children cannot think of buying anything for them during the festive season because of financial constraints.

Kids like Budhimuni and Samir, who live in the Arsha block of Purulia, received new clothes on the morning of Panchami, Wednesday, thanks to the group — all theatre activists.

The activists took to crowdfunding from early October to raise money to buy clothes at Gariahat.

Once they were through with the shopping, they took a bus to Purulia from Esplanade. “We took a vehicle to reach Bhimjara village and adjoining villages in the Arsha block to give the kids new clothes. This is how we wanted to spend Puja this year,” Subha Biswas, a member of Theatre Cafe, which is behind the initiative, said.

The members of Theatre Cafe who are spread across various districts raised Rs 20,000 through crowdfunding and donated to the cause, too. “Initially, we had decided to help the kids with just the money… later we decided to scale up and launched the fund raising drive on Facebook,” Saikat Suman, a group member, said.

Why children in Purulia?

A survey by the group revealed NGOs had been giving clothes to underprivileged children living on footpaths in Calcutta, a member said. “But kids in far-off places like Purulia were left out. We got to know of these children though our network.”

Their parents are migrant workers and the pandemic has hit them hard. “The price of one set of clothes people like us buy can make up for many sets for such kids in the festive season,” Subha Biswas, a member who is part of “Gobordanga Rupantar” theatre group, said.

How it all started

Theatre Cafe that was launched three years ago to spread the message about new productions on digital platforms had started an initiative to help distressed theatre workers during the pandemic.

They delivered essential items to people in the Sunderbans in the aftermath of Cyclone Amphan.

The success of that initiative made them think of raising money for such children during the festive season, another group member said.