An ENT specialist checks a child at the free camp at Loyola School on Wednesday. Picture by Animesh Sengupta

Little did the alumni of Loyola School — a handful of them — know when they started the Saturday free clinic in 1987 that their venture would go on to complete 25 glorious years.

The free clinic, started by Loyola Alumni Association on the campus of Loyola School in Jamshedpur for offering medical service to the needy, turned 25 on July 4. To mark the silver jubilee, the association launched a massive medical check-up campaign for children of project schools of the city on Wednesday.

The event was attended by G. Ramdas, chief of Tata Main Hospital. General physicians, dentists, optometrists, paediatricians and ENT specialists are part of the campaign, which began with Loyola Project School.

“I remember we had a couple of patients on the first day of the clinic and now we attend to about 200 people a week. The growth has been enormous and we would want it to continue and reach out to more people. We never thought our clinic would complete silver jubilee, but the members have tried their best to devote time and the results are for everyone to see,” said ENT specialist K.P. Dubey, who was one of the initiators of the project.

The doctors aimed to cover more than 1,000 students of Loyola Project School on the first day of the health campaign. Medical camps for the rest of the project schools in the city would take place phase-wise in the coming months. Children will have to undergo general check-up and then referred to specialists if needed.

Free medicines were also distributed. As many as 40 doctors — 25 of whom are alumni members — run the clinic, which operates from 5pm to 7pm on Saturdays.

Till now, the clinic has treated more than 1.5 lakh patients.

“We learnt it during our school days that we should do something for the society. Despite all odds, we continued our services and still help poor patients. We have held rural camps too,” said surgeon Tapan Banerjee.

Be it festivals like Dussehra, Diwali, Id, Christmas or emergencies like riots, the Loyola Alumni Association’s Saturday free clinic never takes a break.

The clinic started with a modest fund of Rs 50, but today the association has several donors and internal funding help them carry out free medical camps.