The  Lal Sabuj Society (LSS) is  distributing free umbrellas to rickshaw pullers all around Barishal, in the scorching heat.

Aninda Sundar Basak is the coordinator of the initiative. "In May, Tahsin Uddin, the moderator and youth leader of LSS, uploaded a photo of an old rickshaw puller, carrying an umbrella over his head while riding one of his passengers, on the LSS Facebook group chat. Within minutes, our group members Sadia Asha and Sumaiya Dina expressed their interest to donate umbrellas," he said. "We soon turned it into a full-fledged project, with donations from more members, some of whom got the umbrellas with their lunch money. We collected 80 head umbrellas in total." The umbrellas were distributed to rickshaw pullers around Barishal and Jhalokathi by May 29, 2019.

 "I was at home for the holidays and knowing that I have made some rickshaw pullers happy made my holidays even more special," says Sanvir Hossain, a member of LSS.

As of now, LSS has arranged 200 more umbrellas, which they plan to distribute in not just Barisal, but also other parts of the country, including Khulna, Chittagong, and Dhaka.