Ramu Lalitha Charitable Trust was conceptualised in 2007 by Sairam Ramaswamy in memory of his parents. It is an underlying belief of the Trust that there is no exercise better for the heart than scouting and giving a helping hand to our fellow brethren. Through the actions of our parents, we have realised that though we all have our own storms to weather, reaching out and helping others in the midst of all this is what life is all about. The Trust functions on this priceless belief. The things we take for granted are probably someone's prayers. Charity doesn't have to be flamboyant. One small act of kindness and compassion is all it takes. The Trust, energised by the support of like-minded friends and volunteers, has been identifying and helping some sections of our society. We started off by reaching out to some orphanages. Netaji Mercy Home and Roshini Homes are two such institutions we have had the privilege of serving.
Chennai Floods 2015
Relief Materials
The Chennai floods in 2015 created havoc in innumerable lives. Ramu Lalitha Charitable Trust stepped in and provided relief materials of various kinds.
Food was distributed to over 6000 people rendered homeless by the floods. We also provided blankets, medical boxes, essential kits and clothes for over 1000 people who had lost their livelihood. The volunteers of RLT were on the water logged streets coordinating the distribution of these relief materials.
Housing Facility
Karunilam, a village near Kanchipuram was also a victim to the fury of the December floods. Irulas, the tribal communities of this village, had lost everything when the floods washed away their homes and belongings. RLT in association with We Care Social Service Society and Nalaya Bharatam Educational Social and Charitable Trust built 15 concrete houses for 50 members of the the Irula community. The handover of these houses happened in Feb 2016.
Thondamanallur, another village in Kanchipuram was also devasted in the floods. RLT in association with We Care Social Service Society and Nalaya Bharatam Educational Social and Charitable Trust built 30 thatched roof houses for the members of the Irula community living there.
Education
The Guindy Lions Club School was one of the badly affected schools owing to their proximity to the Adyar river. RLT chipped in with providing school bags and notebooks for their students. Their library was restored too by getting new books for the student’s use. In partnership with Altius foundation, RLT helped renovate 5 class rooms which were completely destroyed by the floods.
RLT also partnered with Govt. Model Higher Secondary School, Saidapet in providing uniforms to 1000 children studying in classes 6th to 10th. Most of these children had lost everything in the floods. Coordinating with the staff and students here paved the way for the Trust to partner with the school to identify and help their deserving students.
Despite their setback, the students were enthusiastic to appear for their 10th and 12th board exams. The Trust decided to pitch in by providing healthy evening snacks to the students who were attending special classes after the school timings for a period of 2 months in year 2016 and 2017.
RLT started identifying deserving students who needed help to pursue higher studies. An exhaustive due diligence process was conducted by meeting the parents and collecting all the documents to assess their financial status.
With measured pride we are happy to share that two students from this school are pursuing their engineering from leading private colleges in Chennai..
We are able to sponsor several students pay their school and college fees through donations received from well-wishers all over the world.
The trust firmly believes and operates on the paradigm that educating a member from a family is like providing a new lease of life to the entire family.
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