**Bhubaneswar:** In the World of rising infrastructure, technology and cut-throat competition, simple gestures of kindness and human touch is often lost in the shadows. However, ushering in hope and peace in the World, a group of volunteers today welcomed the New Year with the old and destitute in Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation’s Shelter for Urban Homeless (SUH) in capital city.
Volunteers of the Odisha Patita Udhar Samiti celebrated the first day of 2019 with the homeless people residing in Ganganagar and Chandrasekharpur SUHs. After cutting cake, the volunteers also distributed blankets to the elderly and shared delectable ‘Gulab Jamuns’ with them.
Currently BMC has seven SUHs spread across the city at Ghatikia, Baramunda Bus Terminal, Unit VI Ganganagar, Ashok Nagar, Chandrasekharpur, Bhimpur and Malisahi.
More than 300 inhabitants are staying at these seven SUHs. Not only facilities of food and potable drinking water are available for the residents at these short-stay homes, the volunteers also help the needy to get benefits of various welfare schemes.
It is heart-breaking to see the kind senior people in the shelter homes. Their faces can remind one of the pains that they might have gone through. They were either left abandoned on the streets by their uncaring kids or they have no one to rely on in their old age. While BMC’s SUH has given them the roof over their heads, it is today that these elderly found love and affection as a group of youth came forward to bring hope and goodwill in the world with the start of 2019.
An inmate of the shelter home, Sarathi Dutta from Calcutta tearfully said, “This is the first time I have received so much warmth and happiness from New Year celebrations. I feel afraid of the word ‘family’ and ‘relatives’, due to my past experiences. But, today I have accepted these people as my own and I wish to continue my life happily with them.”
In this age of self-centric urban lifestyle, these volunteers have set an example by bringing a caring change to the society.
**Also Read:** [Odisha’s Sudhi Ranjan Mohanty Takes Charge As Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary](https://ommcomnews.com/odisha-news/odisha-s-sudhi-ranjan-mohanty-takes-charge-as-madhya-pradesh-chief-secretary)