CHENNAI: As we tide through these tough times, let’s take a minute to empathise with people from the marginalised communities that include sex workers, differently-abled, HIV and leprosy-affected people, among many others. Things have been far worse at their end even before the pandemic. One such initiative that reminds us to count our blessings and share it with others is Goonj’s annual, week-long Joy of Giving festival from October 2 to 8 called Daan Utsav.
The volunteer-driven pan-India initiative encourages people to indulge in an act of giving of their choice. Many cities and towns, districts and villages, across India participate in this social activity. Calling for help from larger organisations, Goonj has shared a few options for you and your employees to contribute. One way is through a material collection drive. You can focus on any specific material and raise materials in bulk or organise collections for urgently needed material within your office premises by placing dropboxes, and encouraging your team to contribute their pre-loved clothes and other household materials.
Some urgently required materials are clothes, woollens, blankets, dry ration, school material, toys, utensils, other household essentials, usable electronic devices (mobiles, laptops, computers), etc. Once the collection drive is over, you are requested to send the materials to the nearest Goonj office within the working hours i.e. Monday to Saturday (10 am to 5 pm). While sending, please ensure that you attach a list of materials collected, name of the organisation, contact person and number, and address so that they can issue a receipt instantly.
On the monetary end, employees can contribute by initiating fundraisers for covering costs of required materials. Other ways of encouraging Goonj for various causes is by collaborating with them for various CSR projects.For details, visit goonj.org/joy-of-giving-week-2021 You can refer to their dropping centres at goonj.org/dropping-centres and collection camps at goonj.org/collection-camps for individual contributions in the links provided.