For the less fortunate

The sixth edition of Daan Utsav or ‘Joy of Giving’ Week, the charity festival will be held from October 2 to October 8.

The  annual event is a national campaign inviting people from the country to give back to the society through any means, be it money, material, skill or time.

 At a press conference held at JW Marriott, the event organisers and owners explained the previous years’ success factors of the festival and unveiled its logo.  The event started with the showcasing of a video where noted celebrities like Harsha Bhogle, Amitabh Bachchan, Prakash Padukone and Sachin Tendulkar spoke about Daan Utsav.
 Rajan Narayanan, one of the volunteers, threw light on how the celebrities contributed to the festival, be it donations by Amitabh Bachchan or sports’ tips given by Prakash Padukone.  He also explained the various events which Daan Utsav has conducted like ‘Wish Tree Concept’, where people fulfill the wishes of the underprivileged; ‘Step up for a cause’, teaching 10 sentences in English and ‘Food for Change’. “This is not about the rich giving to the poor but also about poor giving to the poorer as the festival’s main objective is to help the under-privileged,” he added.

Hari Menon, the founder of Big Basket, aims to reach out to more non-profit organisations and schools this year, through their initiative, ‘Fistful of Rice’.  Hari said, “Every child from different schools contributes a fistful of rice and the bags finally go to orphanages and needy homes. Last year we were able to collect 1000 kg of rice was collected, where ten schools and 3000 kids participated”. 

Murray Culshaw, the chairperson of India Cares, said that their event, ‘Food for Change’, was able to raise over Rs 80 lakh last year, and serves as a platform for NGOs to reach out to existing and new donors. Ankit Shah, president of RECAL, spoke about the ‘Under The Stars’, which serves as a fund-raising platform.