‘Wall of Happiness’ provides clothes to the needy with steady trickle of contribution

“The Wall of Happiness”, a civic initiative launched by the Tiruchi Corporation in 2017 to promote sharing of used clothes to needy persons near K. Abhishekapuram Zonal Office at Puthur is thriving in its ninth year.

Laundered used clothes are placed on the 18 shelves provided for the purpose in the facility, which is monitored by surveillance cameras. On any given day, members of the public can be seen browsing through the garments or depositing their bundles for donation here.

At present, there is no record of the volume of clothes kept in the Wall of Happiness. “We received complaints of some persons trying to take clothes away in bulk, due to which security arrangements were stepped up. We now monitor the facility remotely through the surveillance camera,” a senior Corporation official told The Hindu.

Civic activist K.C. Neelamegam said the project’s success showed a change in public attitude towards donation and use of old clothes.

“Usually, old clothes get burned or are discarded along with household waste in landfills. The Wall of Happiness makes it possible for people to share their used garments in a more humanitarian and dignified manner. It would be better for the Corporation to launch the facility in all the five administrative zones of Tiruchi, to make the donation and collection process more convenient for the public,” he said.

A Wall of Happiness was established earlier in Srirangam in front of the Government Hospital there, but has been discontinued due to the ongoing bus terminus project.

The Corporation’s Atchayapathiram or People’s Food Bank, inaugurated in 2019, adjacent to the Wall of Happiness, is lying empty due to the lack of public patronage. Civic activists suggested that the authorities could consider expanding the wall area for the clothes, and remove the Food Bank completely.