From five star hoteliers and little girls from Chennai schools, to one rupee campaigns and multiple cuisine cooking sprees, the Joy of Week (JOW) celebrations surely have a lot of things going for it. The campaign, started in Chennai by a small group of volunteers five years ago is one of the largest of its kind in the country today, covering over two million from across 75 cities. Launched in the city on Tuesday, the 2013 edition of the JOW is set to be all the more exciting with a whole set of new volunteers, cities and events.
A host of celebrations and events including, Longest Photocake event, Cooking for a Cause, music composition competitions for corporation schools, native food feast for migrant labourers and a lot more are among the events lined up for the week. “Chennai has been at the forefront of the campaign. We have been seeing a lot of participation from every community including children from villages, orphanages, self help groups and even autowallas. Chennai is the first city to be taking its campaign to the villages,” said Aarthi, one of the volunteers of the campaign.
With the growth of the project, volunteers have now come up with several creative projects. Pavithra, a fifth standard student from Thiruvallur district, and her fellow friends from the Children’s Parliament, will celebrate the day by spending a day with the narikuravars (gypsies). “We think that we are not privileged. This is not true. We have plenty. We will do activities that will reach those who are less fortunate than us,”said Pavithra who pioneered the one-rupee campaign for raising money from school children in and around her home. The campaign raised over `8,000 last year.
Carnatic Vocalist Sudha Raghunathan, who had been an active participant of the event from its inception, has taken to a range of projects during the week. This year she is planning to conduct a music composition competition in all the government and corporation schools in Chennai. Five winners of the competiton will get to spend a day with her, visiting a recording studio, receiving gifts and involving themselves in fun activities.
For queries about the events to be conducted, contact info@joyofgivingweek.org or call 9840965889