CHENNAI: With the number of NGO’s in the city on a rise, the count of NGO-exclusive volunteers seem to be dwindling. The reason? The denizens are opting to volunteer for an open cause than a specific organisation. So, what do NGOs do when they are short of volunteers? Enter Just Volunteers, an independent volunteering group established by Hitesh, a 20-year-old BCom graduate. With over 7,000 members in the group’s Facebook page, Just Volunteers has assisted many NGOs by providing them with volunteers during cause-driven events. City Express chats with Hitesh, the man behind the initiative.
“We are an independent volunteer group that believes in focusing on working on an issue/cause rather than the promotion of an NGO. So, people who want to work for any cause every week based on events/campaigns that happen in the city, they enroll themselves,” says Hitesh.
The group turned a year old this October, and has aided events like the WIPRO Marathon, Pinkathon Marathon, Traffic Awareness Campaign by Thozhan, Vigilance Awareness Week Events by Thuvakkam, ‘Walk in my shoes’ by Explore Differently, and several blood donation campaigns. Also, the group was recently felicitated with the Social Activist’s Award by the Youth federation, Chennai. “We get requests from NGOs when they are in need of volunteers. We have three active WhatsApp groups and the Facebook page, which is our main medium. We post messages along with the details, and those who are interested, register and take part in them,” he explains.
Talking about how his interest in volunteer work came about, he narrates, “I finished my school in 2013 and I wanted to do something in life. My friends suggested I do CA I wrote the CPT exam but couldn’t crack it. After a lot of pondering, I decided to explore further and started reading every newspaper to scout for events. After six months of research, I became a part of beach clean-ups in the city. In 2014, I started attending RTI workshops, traffic awareness campaigns and so on,” he says. Though he was not very serious about volunteering, these experiences made Hitesh take it up full-time. “I couldn’t have made a better decision,” he smiles. “There are so many alarming issues that need to be fixed. I don’t know if I can do it all, but I wanted to do my part by helping the NGO’s. Volunteers should be open to work and fix all causes and not be inclined to one. This is just a personal opinion.”
Ask him if he plans on starting his own NGO someday, and he says: “No, I don’t want to get into that business. Gradually the focus might turn from working for the cause to sustaining the NGO and I am not looking at that. My aim is solely the cause... any cause for that matter. We are a very small group trying to lend our assistance to make a change,” he avers.
Hitesh has one thing to say to volunteers: “Work for the cause and not the promotion of the NGO. Ultimately, our aim should be to make the city and country a better place. And you have to put other people’s needs before yours. It’s time you lead,” he adds.
For details, visit:www.facebook.com/JustVolunteerIndia