FLASH NEWS:

NEWS

Kochi, September 6:

Don Bosco Past Pupils Distribute Backpacks to 80 Children in Palluruthy

9 September 2026

Alumni,

News reported by: Adv Renjith Xavier

Eighty children at Don Bosco Social Welfare Centre and Don Bosco Snehabhavan, Palluruthy, received Decathlon backpacks as Onam gifts from the Bangalore Provincial Federation of Don Bosco Past Pupils after its Provincial Council Meeting on September 6 at the Don Bosco Social Welfare eCentre, Palluruthy, Ernakulam.

The gift initiative was funded through contributions from Provincial Council members and Past Pupils, who created a corpus specifically to purchase the backpacks.

The distribution added a charitable dimension to the Federation’s Onam celebrations, bringing together Past Pupils and Salesians in solidarity with children from vulnerable backgrounds.

The gathering began with a welcome by Fr C.M. Joseph SDB, Vice Rector of Don Bosco Palluruthy. Fr Joyson Mulavarickal SDB, Delegate of the host unit, attended the occasion, and Provincial Delegate Fr Shino Kalapurackal SDB delivered the animation talk.

The participants, dressed in traditional Kerala attire, also celebrated Onam together, with a traditional Onam Sadya served to all those present.

Following the meeting, the participants visited Don Bosco Snehabhavan, where the backpacks were handed over to the children from the two Salesian institutions.

The initiative reflects the Salesian family's long-standing commitment at Palluruthy to accompanying children and young people facing difficult circumstances. Don Bosco Snehabhavan, established on May 26, 1974, as a joint rehabilitation initiative of the Salesians and the Corporation of Kochi, began by focusing on street and working children and youth in the city.

The Don Bosco Social Welfare Centre, popularly known as Don Bosco Boys Home, was established at Palluruthy in 1977 to educate children brought in from the streets and prepare them for formal schooling. The centre now caters to high-school and higher-secondary students, offering formal education alongside skill training, life-skills formation, sports, music, and art.

Over the years, several children from the institution have distinguished themselves, including athletes who have reached state-level competitions in disciplines such as judo and boxing.

The wider Snehabhavan family includes Valsalya Bhavan, a home for girls in distress, as well as programmes such as CHILDLINE, the KISMAT migrant workers’ helpdesk and DREAM, a drug-awareness and rehabilitation initiative for children and youth.

The distribution of the backpacks, though a simple Onam gesture, underscored the Salesian tradition of standing with young people who are abandoned, at risk or underprivileged. For more than five decades, the Salesians at Palluruthy have sought to provide children not only with shelter and education but also with opportunities, dignity and hope for a better future.