JOIN USThe members of 16 NGOs volunteered to sleep under the stars recently as part of the annual charity festival Daan Utsav.
The festival was flagged off with this event, which was called ‘Under the Stars’, at the International Tech Park and had various NGOs coming together to participate in the unique fundraiser.
The event, which is in its second edition, saw people camping out in order to raise awareness for homeless and destitute children. It saw an enthusiastic participation from everyone.
The NGOs that partnered for the event included ‘The Bale Mane Trust’, CRY, BOSCO, ‘The Divine Light Trust for the Blind’, ‘Jeevarathni Foundation’, ‘Janodaya Jeevarathni Foundation’, ‘Make A Difference’, ‘Reaching Hands’, ‘Autism Society of India’ and more.
Danielle Edwards, a volunteer from ‘The Bale Mane Trust’, said, “This was something new and different. Rather than just handing over the money to an organisation, people could spend some time, see life through the eyes of a homeless child and then make the contribution. This was a nice way for people to come together and raise awareness.”
Interested parties could make a minimum contribution of Rs 1,100 to any of the NGOs and get a free pass for the event.
The one-day event consisted of performances by a band, skits, dramas, folk dances and celebrations besides bonfires.
Alex, a student of Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, said that he was looking forward to attending the event because he found the concept different from most charity fundraisers.
Asya, from ‘The Bale Mane Trust’, performed kamsale and dollu that night. She said, “I’m happy to have got a chance to perform in front of so many people and show that women are just as good as men!”
There was also food and chatter as the group spread out their sleeping bags to experience the life of a homeless child for one night.