Thanjavur: Residents of Kottur village on the Kumbakonam-Mayiladuthurai road have been silently doing a commendable job for the past five years.

Students, joined by village elders, have been making voluntary blood donations once in six months to the Red Cross Blood Bank, thanks to the blood donation camps organized by ‘Helping Hands Tuition Centre’.

“The residents of Kottur village are the major blood donors to our blood bank. We collect 180 units of blood once in six months during the camps organized by a tuition centre. Besides the students of the tuition centre, local residents also make voluntary blood donation during the camp” says S Muthukumar, honorary treasurer of Indian Red Cross Society, Thanjavur branch.

The tuition centre is run by Helping Hands Trust. “We have been organizing the voluntary blood camps for the past five years. The free tuition centre is run by the trust for the benefit of the poor students of our village studying in classes VI to X,” said N Rathinasamy, a trustee of Helping Hands.

“We do not collect even a single rupee from our students. The salary for the tuition masters (teachers) is paid by the Trust,” he adds.

The Thanjavur branch of Indian Red Cross Society is housed at ‘Al –Seraj’ near Annai Sathya Stadium on the Medical College Road. The building was constructed at a cost of Rs 30 lakh voluntarily donated by Haji Sheik Sirajudeen, an NRI from the locality. The building was unveiled by Fathima Beevi, the then Governor of Tamil Nadu, on April 27, 2007.