We hear so many stories about the youth coming forward to help a cause. From taking up initiatives to curb climate change, to leading the way in crisis situation and voicing their opinions, millennials are making their presence felt in many ways.
A Pune-based NGO, Approach Helping Hands Foundation, was similarly set up by a group of students in 2007. Payal Mujumdar, its founder, says, “Back in the day, it began with a bunch of like-minded school students who looked up to Swami Vivekananda as our source of inspiration. The only funds we had were our limited pocket monies. Although the amount was not much, we were always on the lookout for people in need, in every way possible.”
The 26-year-old says that as an organisation their sole motive is rendering their national duty of working towards betterment of society. Most of the NGOs in the city work towards a single cause, but Approaching Helping Hands Foundation’s work is slightly different.
“We don’t have a single cause that we work towards; we have branched out into various fields like education, relief work including monetary and products and healthcare,” says Mujumdar, adding, “It’s so because all the volunteers come from different backgrounds and all have different interests. Some of us are engineers, lawyers and even medical and art students. Hence we chose not to deal with just one problem area but branch out as further as possible.”
Talking about some of the initiatives that they have undertaken, the youngster mentions that they recently helped the families affected by the floods in Sangli. “Natural calamities have disastrous effects on mankind and the aftermath is something that people find difficult to deal with. In Sangli, we did our bit by donating clean-up kits to schools and in some cases even funds,” says the founder.
Mujumdar says that Project Care Through Hair is their another initiative, which they run in collaboration with Madat Trust, Mumbai. They help cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, by donating hair which goes into creating wigs for them. She also talks dearly about the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam School Kit Event.
“We conduct School Kit Donation Drive for kids from different tribal groups of Maharashtra in collaboration with Chaitanya group and Khushi Ke Rang group. The government does provide for free education and meals to these children. What is missing is the stationery and instead of playing the blame game, we are helping both the children and the government to tackle the problem of dropouts by providing simple school material,” says Mujumdar. In the first year, they were able to raise money to cover more than 1000 kits and the initiative is currently in its second year with the group aiming to provide 1500 kits.
The organisation also runs the Single Donor Platelets (SDP) Donation, which is one step forward apart from their existing blood donation initiative. “As a part of SDP, we are creating awareness about platelets donation and have partnered with Jankalyan Raktapedhi,” Mujumdar points out.
Through the years, the volunteers have understood the value of a wish. “It can be a simple wish of watching a movie maybe. Many people will laugh off and dismiss it, but for that one unfortunate child, watching a movie is like a dream. If we are able to fulfill it, the joy the child feels is beyond comparison. It all comes down to the simple joys of life,” says Mujumdar.
The Approaching Helping Hands Foundation is funded by the volunteers’ pocket money as well as donations that are made to them directly, through online and cheque payments to maintain transparency in their work. Mujumdar further adds that donation does not just mean handing over the collected money, it can also mean coming forward and joining their cause. “If you are a designer, you can design our posters, if you are a doctor, you can assist us when we hold medical drives, and if you are an engineer, you can help us with our website and reach more people. You can donate your time for the cause, which will go a long way,” says Mujumdar. Time to act!
