Shorobor's Warmth in Winter 2024
Support Charity Organizations to
donate Warmth and Change Lives
Join our warmth in winter to provide warm blankets, hoodies, shawls, and more to the less fortunate. Your generous donations can make a difference and we help you to donate.
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Winter Donation Drive is a common activity for many charity organizations in Bangladesh. They collect generous donations for winter to spread warmth through donations of blankets to support the less fortunate people in rural Bangladesh.
Shorobor is committed to helping ‘Winter Charity” initiatives by making the procurement easy for warm blankets, hoodies, and shawls. We provide logistics support in such a way that you can focus on your activities and change lives with your donation while we make the warm clothes available right where you want to donate.
Unfortunately, many people and organizations distribute warm clothes in a time when the winter is almost gone. So, our suggestion is if you want to distribute warm cloths in the winter 2024, you should start fundraising and ask members and well-wishers of your organization to donate today.
If they donate now, you will have enough funds to place a purchase order by mid-November and distribute it by late November.
Shorobor is a for-profit social business organization. Our vision is to eradicate poverty from minds, hearts, and stomachs. Our mission is to spread goodness through social business.
One of our business wings is Blanket Factory. It’s a small production unit in Bogra that produces ~20 thousand ‘Joined Blankets’ from waste clothes coming out of Ready Made Garments companies called “Jhut”. The two-layered blankets are sewn with top-quality threads. The extra pieces of cloth inside the layers make the blankets very warm.
The North Region of Bangladesh gets pretty cold but the imported single-part blankets given as aid to underprivileged people are not warm enough. We discovered that sewing Jhut together with tough cotton thread provides three times more warmth than other blankets. The sewing is done by old men and women who don’t want to leave their homes. We get them sacks of “Jhut” and bring blankets after the sewing is done. This is how we support low-income communities.
On one end there are families in need of warmth while on the other end, we help hard-working villagers to earn money sitting at home and support poor households with that money. Our model of social business thus helps
Shorobor caters to the need of two types of customers -
Who wants to distribute the warm clothes themselves
Who wants to donate but can’t go to the rural areas by themselves.
Shorobor has a proven track record of quality assurance for the blankets. The charity organizations that buy blankets to contribute to a good cause – often don’t have a dedicated procurement team. In the wholesale markets, many sellers provide low-quality blankets. But Shorobor being a socially responsible business entity always provides as per their commitment. So we cut the oft-repeating circle of ‘search-negotiate-buy-feel sorry’ and let the charity organizations do what they are good doing at – raise funds and distribute blankets among the poor. The hassle of supply and logistics is on Shorobor.
One of the best things about Shorobor is the ethical practices of after-sales support. If there is a complaint about the quality of blankets from clients, Shorobor ensures to replace the products at their own cost. But this would never be the case if the blankets were bought from Gulistan or Bongo Market. Shorobor tries to maintain its commitment to deliver the product in rural areas at the right time so that the distributors don’t have any logistic challenges during distribution.
“Winter wind blows sheerly into the house where we don’t have even a warm cloth to protect us. Now we have got a comfortable shawl.” – Babor Ali (age 79)
In the villages of northern Bangladesh, winter arrives much earlier. As night deepens, so does the intensity of the winter hardships. How long can one sit by the fire to protect against hypothermia amid the cold waves? Lack of warm clothes causes suffering in cold weather.
Although the rural families are affected most, the urban poor of the district towns also face the winter poverty challenges. Many of the urban poor are homeless, internally displaced people who went to the cities to earn livelihoods. Many of them take shelter in railway stations, or simply in a corner of the footpath. As they don’t have any proper home, they can’t protect themselves from the winter breeze. Moreover, they don’t have any special warm clothes for the winter – and so got ill easily from cold-induced diseases.
Most of these displaced individuals and families became homeless because of river erosion. In villages, they make small tin huts around the dams. Cold air keeps seeping in through the holes in their makeshift houses. Cold-related deaths are common among elderly people and children because of extreme cold. One of the easiest ways to prevent cold-related illness is to keep the body warm with enough warm clothes.
For those of us living in the megacities, we rarely feel the winter bites. It’s important for us to visit the vulnerable families in North Bengal to feel empathetic towards the struggles of the homeless at least once in our lifetime. Then we will not only donate warm clothes and blankets but also help them in the long term like making houses for them.
Shorobor caters to the need of two types of customers -
Corporate Sales - For Donors Who Want to Donate and Distribute by Themselves
First of all, the donors need to decide what they want to distribute – blankets, shawls or hoodies for kids.
Secondly, the charity organization needs to fix the number of beneficiaries and places of distribution.
In the third step, we should be contacted with the information above. After the purchase is confirmed by completing the payment via bank or cash, the products will be delivered to the desired location. In most cases, the products are delivered to local courier services from where the donor can collect them. Compared to traditional blanket sellers, Shorobor offers a very easy-to-buy process for seasonal charity workers.
Retail Sales: For Donors Who Want Shorobor to Deliver
Retail, is defined as those who buy from Shorobor but give Shorobor the responsibility of distributing the blankets.
For those who can’t go out in the rural areas and distribute it by themselves, like someone living in another country or Dhaka, Shorobor provides the opportunity to distribute via Shorobor.
The shawl, hoodie, and blanket donation campaign starts every year in the month of November. Shorobor collects lists of poor people from local partners every year. The warm clothes you will buy will go directly to those people.
Shorobor has develeoped an extensive ground network by which we identify and list poor people in different districts. They we deliver the blankets bought by our customers to those poor people. We have created this alternative distribution mechanism becuase the traditional system including the member-chairmen of local government are corrupt and often those deserve the help don’t get them. We provide our customers name, address and pictures of the receivers of the blankets.
The contributions made by common citizens are made easy by our online donation-procurement process. One can securely pay through normal banking channels – by depositing the price of the blankets, hoodies, or shawls to our bank account.
Alternatively, those living abroad can pay via paypal – paypal.me/shorobor – a fast and secure payment method.
Please share the details of payment via Messenger (https://www.facebook.com/shoroborbd), WhatsApp (01861005555), or email us (info@shorobor.org) after you have made the payment for the warm clothes.
Unfortunately, we can not provide online donation where you can donate via card or one-click donation mechanism as we are not a charity organization rather a social business organization that facitiitates donation.
High-Quality Blankets and Warm Clothing
Shorobor sells high quality blankets and warm clothings. The products are
Our Impact
Many donations don’t make any real-life positive community impact. But Shorobor’s Warmth in Winter project has a lot of real-life testimonials of recipients that others don’t. Our blankets, shawls, and hoodies have multiple impacts:
- Cost-effective – very low-cost blankets for the poor of the North of Bangladesh.
- Good Quality – it effectively warms poor people in the cold-affected North.
- Environment friendly as it recycles waste clothes from the RMG companies.
Let’s listen to some heartwarming stories of few grateful recipients:
“Chilling cold wind from river trickles at night just like snow. Hands and feet get frozen because of the cold. One person gave a piece of paper to us and now we’ve also got a blanket. May Allah give them the best and ability to help us more.” -Shahana Begum (age 58)
“We, the poor, prefer summer as we don’t need any extra clothes then. We can’t even manage to wear normal clothes, so how can we get warm clothes? Me and my children hardly spend our nights somehow. Almost 3 to 4 years have passed since we got a blanket from you. Nobody cares for us. Members and Chairmans visit occasionally only for a vote but never communicate the rest of the year.”- Maleka Begum ( Borodeb Char)
Our Promise to You
Shorobor operates in a completely transparent process. We understand that for every donor his donation matters and he wants to deliver to verified recipients. Shorobor has a list of poor people made by local contacts after a lot of checking and careful consideration to find the most deserving. Then we digitalize the name list. After delivering the blankets to these verified recipients we send the list to donors or buyers who bought the blankets so that they can have peace of mind knowing who received the warm clothes and we stand clear in terms of accountability.
Shorobor is well known for several ethical practices on donations. While the privacy of donors is assured – no buyer information is not disclosed to anyone else. We do not just talk about honesty and integrity but walk the talk.
Furthermore, whether you are paying for winter clothes online via bank or Paypal all are done through secure transactions.
“ Kareem Chacha lost everything—his home and farmland—due to the erosion caused by the Brahmaputra River. He now lives in a fragile, dilapidated hut on Madan Char, in a helpless situation. He lives hand to mouth, earning just enough to survive each day.
Despite all his struggles, the smile on his face makes it seem like he is the happiest person in the world. His body no longer has the strength it once had, and he can’t work as hard as before. Yet, neither age nor poverty has been able to break his spirit! Because if he stops working, who will fill his hungry stomach?
As evening approaches, cold winds begin to blow across the char areas. Since his house is made of bamboo and tin, the chilly winds sweep through it mercilessly. At night, he shivers from the cold. With the rising prices of everyday goods making survival a struggle, buying warm clothes or blankets is a luxury many like him cannot afford.”
- We have thousands of these stories which tell us that your kindness matters.
“ The Saptana area in Lalmonirhat Sadar. As soon as you enter, you will see narrow earthen roads run between the water bodies. Large reservoirs surround dilapidated tin-roofed houses. This is a government project called ‘Abaashon’ (housing).
We had listed the students of two madrasas in this area for distributing the hoodies you purchased. Being surrounded by water, the cold winds are intense. Even by 8:30 in the morning, the sun hadn’t come out. Some of the children were wearing winter clothes, but many were not.
Those without winter clothes quickly put on the hoodies we brought. Even many of those who had winter clothes wore the hoodies with joy. It was clear that during the cold months of December and January, one layer of clothing isn’t enough here; people wear two, three, or even four layers of warm clothing.
For us, living in the heat island of the city, this might seem unbelievable. But once we were physically there, feeling the cold winds cutting through blankets and chilling our skin, we realized how freezing the nights could be in this place. The old tin houses don’t offer much warmth but we did find warm hearts in our mission to spread joy and warmth”
- This is a donor’s journey who accompanied us to spread love and give hope to the poor.
“I won’t tell of impactful tales of donations, but I will tell you a story of change. The first time I went to Lalmonirhat, I stayed in a Madrasa at night. The tin boundary was an inch or two above the ground. The winter breeze was entering the room. I couldn’t sleep because I was so cold despite wearing all my winter gear and jacket. Then I took a blanket that we brought to distribute and wrapped myself with it. Still, I could not sleep and spent the night sitting. I could feel how these people feel all winter. The donation might have had some impact on them – but the biggest impact was on me. I learned empathy. I became aware of people I didn’t know existed. I understand our kindness matters a lot to people because it gives them hope. They feel they are not alone. This is something I want to do for the rest of my life. This is my success story as a human being.”
- Sharif Abu Hayat Opu, CMO, Shorobor
Corporate Sponsorship & Group Donations
The concept of CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility is gaining momentum for the time being. People like to care for the needy and they want their favorite brand to do the same.
Shorobor provides businesses and organizations an opportunity to make a meaningful impact in the lives of those in need. To carry corporate social responsibility, business organizations can buy blankets, hoodies, and shawls for the most vulnerable in our society, and through community partnerships we can distribute it to hard to hard-to-reach rural areas.
Whether it’s through a one-time corporate donation or organizing group charity drives with your employees, you can make a real difference. You can also put corporate donation options on your e-commerce site – like if they buy a product of yours, you will donate 5% of the profit to your winter clothing drive. This will create a positive social engagement with your customers.
When employees team up for a cause and collect money for winter-affected people, a positive environment is created within the office. This is more than just a donation drive—it’s a chance to create a ripple effect of generosity and compassion.
FAQ
How do I know my donation is delivered?
We will send you an email with a list of the names of the people who received the blankets/hoodies or shawls with some photos of theirs.
What are the delivery areas covered?
Shorobor covers more than 21 districts in Bangladesh. The northern districts like Rangpur, Dinajpur, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Nilphamary, Ponchogor, Chapainawabganj, Natore, Ishwardi, Shirajganj, Bogura, Joypurhat, Gaibandha, Sherpur, Jamalpur etc. We cover difficult to reach hill districts of Rangamati, Bandarban, and Khagrachori. Some impoversihed southern districts like Satkhira, Bagerhat, Potuakhali is also covered when needed.
How long does it take for my donation to be delivered?
We need a minimum number of warm clothes/ blankets to distribute in a village. For example, you might have bought 10 blankets but the village where we would distribute on behalf of you has a requirement list of 150 blankets. We would wait till we have sold all the 150 blankets and then we will dispatch them. So it might take two days or even two weeks to make the delivery. But be assured it would reach the needy if you make the purchase early.
Can I include a personal note with my donation?
We do deliver some common messages like:
“This blanket is a gift from Allah bought by a brother/sister of yours living in the city.”
But unfortunately it is not possible for us to deliver personal notes with a blanket/shawl or hoodie.
Contact Us
May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala accept our good deeds.
Address
House 115, Road 14, Block K, Eastern Housing South Banasree, Khilgaon, Dhaka-1219.
Shorobor is just a call/message away from you. To know details on how to purchase feel free to contact us through our