How does change happen? We’re not talking about the big, world-shaking kind of change, but the quieter, everyday transformations. The kind where a child realises that doing something for others doesn’t just help someone else, it helps them grow into someone they want to become. That is very much the spirit of the Street Store initiative at Silver Oaks.

For 25 years Silver Oaks has shown up in Hyderabad with the promise of “Character before Competence”. One of our flagship community projects that upholds this promise is “Street Store”, a distinctive charitable pop-up event which we’ve been doing since 2014.

On Sunday 24 September 2023, the school held its 18th edition of Silver Oaks Street Store, in its Hyderabad campuses (Bachupally and Wadakpally). The students collected books, toys, clothes, school-bags, shoes, and other utility items from homes and neighbours - things still in good condition but no longer needed. The under-privileged came and chose what they could use.

In that one day: ~80,000 items collected, ~1,800 children and elders visited and picked what they needed. That kind of community energy is rare. But the beauty of it lies not only in the numbers or the giveaway. It lies in the process: students becoming aware that they have enough, that others have less, that they can participate in change. That is education far beyond textbooks.

Here’s why Street Store is special to us:

• It isn’t just “donate and collect”. It’s student-led. The students themselves organise, advertise, mobilise items, sort them, meet the guests. They learn project-management, empathy and communication.
  
  
• The items are viewed not as old junk but as utility and dignity. A child choosing a bag or a book from the store senses “I have value, I will use this, This helps me.”.
  
  
• The act of giving becomes internalised. The “I’m helping others” becomes “I’m part of a community which helps” and eventually “I help because I am someone who helps”.
  
  
• Silver Oaks now integrates this into its research-led curriculum: reflection sessions after the event, discussions in class about waste and reuse and social justice. 

Why it matters: Because if children learn early that wealth, waste and responsibility aren’t just adult issues, that they can participate, then the next generation might just be slightly better at the art of giving. For Silver Oaks, this isn’t a one-off charity event, it is aligned with our mission “Character before Competence”.

The Street Store at Silver Oaks is more than an empty building giving away things. It’s a mirror for the students: “What do I have? What can I let go? What can I offer?” It’s a mirror for the community: “We are in this together.” And in 2025, with more experience, more campuses & more students the mirror is sharper & the mission is deeper. The pop-up has grown into a practice and quietly, that might just change a corner of the world.