Here’s your chance to reach out to people and be a part of giving. The fourth edition of the Joy of Giving Week is back.
This volunteer-driven festival provides a platform for every Indian to reach out in any possible way to someone who is not so privileged.
Started in 2009, this festival is celebrated in the week of Gandhi Jayanti. This year too, it is from October 2 to 8. Last year, over one million people from different walks of life, spread across 70 cities took the festival to the rural backyard. This year, to involve more people, several new initiatives have been planned.
Aarti Madhusudan, Volunteer, Joy of Giving Week, said, “A new initiative this year will be to make the Police Boys and Girls clubs in the city to work with the traffic police.”
The student members of these clubs will identify people who obey traffic rules by wearing helmets and following traffic signals, and give them small tokens of appreciation like chocolates.
Partnering with Bhumi, a voluntary organisation, the organisers also plan to approach about one lakh college students across the country, urging them to take part in the activities of Bhumi’s Hi-5 club by volunteering for five hours at a stretch or one hour a day for the five days of the Joy of Giving Week. Vaishnavi Srinivasan, president of Bhumi said, “Students can volunteer either on structured opportunities provided by partner organisations or have ideas of their own.” As last year, this year too a sports and fun fair will be held for the mentally and physically-challenged in Madurai, Cuddalore, Tiruvannamalai, Nagapattinam, Dindigul and Chennai.
Rekha Ramachandran, president of Down’s Syndrome Association of Tamil Nadu, said, “We are looking at it not just as a week-long engagement, but as a year-long commitment by corporates in working together with NGOs of various districts to enchance the quality of life of the affected children.” The Battle of the Buffet fundraiser event is to be held on October 6 at the Chennai Trade Centre.
Mahadevan, founder of Chennai Mission Trust, said, “This year, we plan to rope in more hotels and raise at least Rs 2 crore. Around 80 NGOs will benefit from it.”
Under the Battle of the Buffet banner, there will be an auction of Bollywood and Kollywood movie memorabilia. EKAM, an NGO, along with community partners, would take up the task of cleaning up government hospitals at the district and taluk levels as the part of the Joy of Giving Week.
For further details on the Joy of Giving Week, write to info@joyofgivingweek.org