Joy of Giving Week 2009 India’s largest Philanthropic Event was huge Sucess

It’s the season of breaking records! And the first edition of the Joy of Giving Week, held from September 27-October 3, 2009, is already India’s largest philanthropic event, raising over Rs10crores in money and resources raised, and a lot more in time during that week.

Master Blaster, Sachin Tendulkar, brand ambassador for the Joy of Giving Week, completed the promised ½ day camp earlier in the day with 14 corporate executives from Whirlpool and 7 children from different nonprofit organisations. He said, “It feels great to be part of a movement like this and I am delighted that several organisations like Apnalaya are benefiting. Many of us do give money, but giving time can be more difficult, which is why I offered a day of my time and skills.” Sachin had launched the campaign on June 3, 2009 by making a personal contribution to sponsor an additional 200 children’s education every year.

Initiated by GiveIndia, but put together by over 200 NGOs, corporates, schools, colleges and institutions across the country, the Joy of Giving Week saw perhaps the broadest participation in any national event.

The wide range of events included Goonj’s Vastrasamman campaign for donations in kind, Riverside School’s Design for Giving Contest that had children from 1,100+ schools all over India participate, Silver Inning Foundation's UMANG the Talent show for Elderly, and JAM’s College Joyfest reaching out to over 115 colleges and youth clubs across the nation. The Week also saw the launch of several innovative events:

1. Sachin Tendulkar’s auction of a ½ day cricket coaching camp netted Rs12 lacs for Apnalaya, becoming the highest bid ever on eBaY India.
2. Toofles presented the “Styles for Smiles” show getting 43 CEOs to walk the ramp for a cause and raising Rs43 lacs for their favourite charities.
3. The inimitable “Hot Breads” Mahadevan put together a “Battle of the Buffets” in Chennai, bringing all 5* hotels under 1 roof to raise over Rs90 lacs for 50+ NGOs of Tamil Nadu.
4. ISB, Hyderabad launched the “Shadow a CEO” auctions that saw stalwarts like Narayana Murthy, Kumar Birla, Rajat Gupta and several others spending a day with a student, and raising over Rs15 lacs for various causes.
5. GiveIndia’s “India Giving Challenge”, the country’s first online donation contest, raised a little over Rs91 lacs from almost 10,000 donors, and
6. Udayan Care’s Home for Joy saw corporates across Delhi stepping forward to donate over Rs70 lacs.

Speaking at the occasion, Mr N Vaghul, Chairman- GiveIndia and former Chairman, ICICI Bank, said, “This is just the first step taken towards bringing the nation together to celebrate ‘giving’ and make it an integral part of our lives. I am delighted to see that hundreds of organisations and institutions came together in a spirit of unity to organise the Joy of Giving Week.”

Mr Amit Chandra, Managing Director, Bain Capital, shared his experience of having an ISB student shadow him, and also said, “It was fascinating to see how the Joy of Giving Week campaign made it easy for so many people to create their own fundraising ideas, innovate in different ways and successfully reach out to the community.”

Commenting on Whirlpool’s association Mr. Shahzad Akhtar, Vice President Marketing Sales and Export, Whirlpool of India said, “We have great respect for the commendable work being done in mobilising resources and providing opportunities for people and organisations to participate in the ‘Joy of Giving Week’. Charity is close to the hearts of all Whirlpool employees and we shall continue to support its causes and commitments. The cricket camp with Sachin is a step towards reiterating our pledge in strengthening the economic and social fabric of the communities in which we operate.”

Mr.Sailesh Mishra of Silver Inning Foundation, an NGO that works with Senior Citizens said “We are thankful to ‘Joy of Giving Week’ for being one of the partners for UMANG, a Talent show of, for and by Senior Citizens. It gave us the opportunity to create awareness, mobilize people and network with likeminded organization. We would love to participate in much bigger way in 2010’.

Mr Venkat Krishnan N., campaign co-ordinator, announcing the dates for Joy of Giving Week 2010 as Sept 26-Oct 2, 2010, said, “The key to making the Week a big success was the fact that giving was the purpose of the Week and not an incidental benefit. Support from the media, government, the public and celebrities from sports, movies and business was unstinted. We thank the nation for encouraging us on this path, and we hope that JGW 2010 will be even bigger and better!”

For further details, contact Hema Lumba: 9820842132 or Jasmine Wadhawan: 98200 80392

About Goonj’s Vastrasamman Campaign:

GOONJ is a unique resource mobilization initiative providing clothes and other basic amenities to millions in the far-flung villages by turning one’s wastage into a resource for another. The Vastrasamman campaign saw 25+ cities participate and over 100 trucks of clothes, utensils, toys and materials worth over Rs5crores being donated during the Week, and at least an equal amount in the month following that. For more information, visit www.goonj.info

About Riverside School’s Design For Giving Contest:

Over 1,100 schools from India participated in this unique contest that invited children to “be the change”, by conceptualizing and implementing ideas to make the world a better place. Judged by an eminent panel from Stanford design school, NID and others, the event was presented by Kiran Sethi at TED India, and at least 8 countries have confirmed that they will organise the Design for Giving Contest in their own nations in 2010! More at http://www.designforgivingcontest.com

About JAM Magazine’s Joyfest Initiative:

JAM magazine is India's largest youth medium both in print, with a circulation of 35,000 copies every fortnight, and also online. The Joyfest campaign saw participation from college youth across 115+ colleges and clubs in India, including premier campuses such as IITs, IIMs, NITs, professional and vocational colleges. More at www.joyfest.in

About Whirlpool Corporation:
Whirlpool Corporation is the world’s leading manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances, with annual sales of more than $19 billion, more than 80,000 employees, and more than 60 manufacturing and technology research centers around the world. The company markets Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Brastemp, Bauknecht and other major brand names to consumers in nearly every country around the world. Additional information about the company can be found at http://www.whirlpoolcorp.com. For information on Whirlpool India go to: whirlpoolindia.com

About Silver Inning Foundation:

Silver Inning Foundation a registered NGO dedicated for Senior Citizens and their family. Its part of the group Silver Innings ,a Social Entrepreneur organization working for cause of Elderly; it also hosts Silver Innings.Com www.silverinnings.com Pioneer in promoting web based application for Elders, it’s a Comprehensive and dedicated Website for Elderly. Providing need base service, networking and advocacy for Senior Citizens forms important aspect of Silver Innings. We use ICT as important tool to reach out to Elderly and civil society for sensitization and addressing the issue of our Elderly. Silver Innings is working towards creating Elder Friendly World where Ageing becomes a Positive and Rewarding Experience.



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