With Kerala reeling under severe floods, help poured into the state from across the country. Some sent money; others contributed necessities and many volunteers came to help in the rescue efforts. Members of Association of Independent Financial Advisors (AIFA), a registered & active IFA Association in Kerala too decided to contribute towards these efforts.
On August 12, 2018, given the gravity of the situation, the committee decided to marshal aid for the victims. "As a first step, we decided to send monetary help to the affected region. Our aim was to ensure that the relief efforts reached the affected parties. To expedite the process, we urged the three chapter committees - AIFA Trivandrum chapter, AIFA Ernakulam chapter and AIFA Calicut chapter to contribute to the aid efforts," said General Secretary of AIFA, Sam Koshy.
To start with, the committee withdrew Rs. 15,000 from association’s account and used it to buy food to distribute it in relief camps. In addition, the committee started collecting voluntary donations from its members for the rescue efforts. Overall, they collected close to Rs. 3 lakh of donations from their members.
The committee members created packets, which include food (rice, biscuits, and bread), water, toiletries (soap, toothbrush and toothpaste) and bucket for the flood victims.
As flood affected Ernakulam and Calicut severely, members of Trivandrum chapter divided their responsibilities. They largely focussed on collecting donations and distributing it amongst the other two chapters. The members approached flood-affected families at houses and rescue camps to distribute these packets personally. Similarly, the members from Calicut visited camps at Palakkad, Malappuram, Calicut and Kannur to distribute the packets. In Ernakulam, the committee members distributed packed materials in the Nehru Stadium in Kochi and various camps in Kochi. Many IFAs too joined the committee members in their rescue operations.
Along with helping people in affected areas, the committee members also ensured that their members were safe during the floods. When two AIFA members of Kochi - Rajendran and Ashaletha were stranded in their house during the floods, the committee took efforts to reach them. However, despite their efforts, they could not reach their place. Luckily, both of them were rescued during an operation.
In another incident, floods submerged the first floor of Punalur based AIFA member Jayakumar’s house and he was stranded on the top floor of his house for two days. When the AIFA team finally reached Jayakumar, he graciously rejected the monetary help AIFA offered and told the team "Sir, please use this money to help another fellow who might be more needy."
This strong commitment and dedication to help displayed by the AIFA committee shows that the members are there for each other.
Further, the committee is planning to collect Rs.3 lakh more from IFAs to distribute food and medicine in the affected areas.
Among the members who put their untiring efforts are:
Sam Koshy, General Secretary of AIFA, Benzi Thomas, President of AIFA , Sambhu Potti, Treasurer of AIFA
AIFA Calicut chapter: committee President Mohammed Ali Chemban, secretary Sreejith, Treasurer Ranesh, executives Satheesan and Narayanan Kutty
AIFA Ernakulam chapter : President Krishna Anand, Secretary Jagadeesh Pai and Treasurer Capt Retd R P Samson, committee members Vinod Kumar, Ramanathan
AIFA Trivandrum chapter: President Oommen Kadakampally, Secretary Binu Varghese and Treasurer Sivakumar
Trivandrum IFAs Manikandan Nair, Rejiraj and Reghunathan C G
Kollam IFA Paulson
