Daan Utsav – Open letter from ten Ambassadors

The joint letter below signed by the 10 ambassadors endorsing #DaanUtsav and inviting every citizen of India to celebrate it, is here! It is signed Alia Bhatt, Amitabh Bachchan, Anu Aga, Azim Premji, Chhavi Rajawat, Devi Shetty, Justice Srikrishna, Lata Mangeshkar, Mary Kom and Sachin Tendulkar. Scroll down to read it, it is also available for download here.

To participate in Bhumi’s Daan Utsav activities click here.

To participate in or know more about other Daan Utsav events click here

DaanUtsav is India’s own festival that celebrates giving. It takes place every year from the 2nd to 8th October, providing you with the opportunity to contribute time, money, materials or skills to benefit an individual, organization or cause that means something to you.

Daan, in Pali or Sanskrit, connotes the virtue of generosity.

Our modern day lives can be extremely hectic with the pressures of day to day commute, work, meeting our own family and personal needs and overcoming the challenges that life throws at us. But we also read so many inspirational stories of people, taking that moment from their day and time to do an extra bit, not for themselves, but for others.

DaanUtsav is about celebrating that ability to do something for others. It is also about recognising that there is great joy to be found in giving of oneself, bringing a smile on the face of another, or helping someone overcome a difficult situation, even if only momentarily. This is not an organisation with a templated hierarchy run by a few or by any, but a celebration of the “Utsav of Daan”, promoted by hundreds of volunteers across the length and breadth of India.

Over the past 10 years, DaanUtsav has encouraged and inspired millions across the country. What started out as a simple idea, is now a mass movement of giving involving corporates, schools, colleges, not-for-profits, governments and communities. In recognition and appreciation of our voluntary participation, the global ‘Giving Tuesday’ initiative is now observed in India as well and falls on the Tuesday of the DaanUtsav week.

October 2nd also marks the beginning of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi, who has inspired people world over to give back to society. There couldn’t be a better time for us to do more.

This year, we would love for you to join the celebration and we hope you will encourage your family, friends, colleagues and neighbours to do the same. You can experience the joy of sharing whatever you can and your contribution need not be monetary. It could be spending time with the elderly, giving books, toys and other material to those who cannot afford them or volunteering at the local animal shelter – there’s so much you can do!

Take inspiration from the rickshaw drivers in Badamba, Odisha, who ferried elders from their village to the local medical camp at no cost, the vegetable vendors in Chennai who donated bags of vegetables to local NGOs or the young, visually impaired boy from Mumbai who volunteered his skill to paint the Mumbai Central station. These are just a few among thousands of stories. Each one of us is capable of this and more.

Ideas and inspiring acts of generosity are there in abundance, and you can find several, genuine organisations that help those in need and who would welcome your support. Several organisations, websites and platforms allow you to search for opportunities to donate, volunteer or give in kind. You can choose the one that touches your heart, or give directly to someone you already know. The choice and action remains yours. Do it selflessly. Do it happily.

As we ready ourselves for this year’s celebration, we have decided to take an extra step ahead. Just like Christmas, Diwali, Eid, Navroz and so many other festivals celebrated in our country, we have marked October 2 to October 8 as DaanUtsav in our calendars, to be celebrated this year and every year and we invite you to do the same.

Let the virtue of our Generosity be a celebration forever. Yours sincerely,

Important Instructions

How can this be used?

  • Can be sent along with a covering letter or other event collaterals (soft or hard copy form- printing in grayscale is allowed too)
  • Can mention in covering letter that Daan Utsav is endorsed by these 10 ambassadors and that they have invited the people of India to celebrate India’s festival of giving

Feel free to share it widely. However, while doing so, please ensure that this document CANNOT be edited or modified in any way

  1. no logos or elements can be added and the 10th year #DaanUtsav logo can’t be removed
  2. any org using this must not claim or imply in any way that the ambassadors have endorsed or supported their organisation or their events, etc.
  3. orgs or events should not create any other collateral on their own using these signatures or photographs or names of these ambassadors
  4. if there’s even the slightest doubt about whether something is allowed, don’t do it till you get positive confirmation from the Bhumi team via [email protected].

Apply for The Super 30 ERC of the 11th Jagriti Yatra

Greetings to all the young entrepreneurs of India!

It is that time of the year when the wheels meet the rails and 500 young people set out on another journey of passion, discovery and transformation, with a strong will to strengthen our country. To build India through enterprise. Till date, all the Yatras have been successful with the endeavours of The Super 30 ERC (Engine Room Club), which is an exclusive club of volunteers of the Jagriti Yatra and the prime force behind execution of the world’s largest train journey. The train runs on the persistent efforts of all the committed volunteers for 15 long days.

However, it is now time to give back to Jagriti by volunteering for the whole journey. So, here is an opportunity for zealous & dedicated Yatris to demonstrate their managerial and event organizing abilities, leadership and problem-solving skills and ultimately delivering one of the best Yatras ever.

If you are ready to witness the action behind the scenes by getting your hands dirty, come and join us as one of The Super 30 ERC members!

  • Duration: 1 December, 2018 – 15 January, 2019
  • Application Deadline: 12 am, 30 October, 2018 IST.
  • The final decision of allocation of departments of ERC will be made by the Executive team of Jagriti.
  • Jagriti will take care of travel, accommodations & food for The Super 30 ERC.
Apply now!

 

Rewarding volunteers – V-Awards 2018 by UN Volunteers with Bhumi

V- Awards is an initiative by the UN Volunteers in India to celebrate and encourage volunteerism among youth. V- Awards is supported by organisations in the development sector, Bhumi being one of them. V- Awards will recognize extraordinary young volunteers who are catalysts for change in their lives as well as their community.

Deadline

Apply for V-Awards before the final deadline October 10, 2018 (Midnight IST)

Eligibility criteria:

– An Indian citizen between 16 to 29 years of age
– Volunteered for a minimum of 150 hours in a volunteering project over last year
– Meaningful engagement with community

For further information or queries, read the FAQs

Utilize this platform to inspire more people to volunteer for change and encourage volunteerism in India.

Apply now!

Volunteer for Champions of Clean Chennai – 2018

Not all champions bring trophies to the city. They bring hygiene.

Bhumi invites you to volunteer for Daan Utsav, a 100% volunteer-driven festival that kicks off on Tuesday, October 2, 2018 to help every Indian experience the joy of giving, the inherent compassion that lies within each one of us and to celebrate oneness – also in alignment with what Gandhi stood for.

To mark this very special day, NGOs, Corporates, Associations and individuals in the city are invited to honour those who keep the city clean through various acts of kindness and volunteering. There are more than 5,500 “Cleanliness champions” – conservancy workers, sweepers, cleaners and others who work night and day to clean up after the mess that we make. Quietly, invisibly and tirelessly.

We want to be the first city in India that honours them – by taking a pledge to keep the city clean, and by sharing a festive meal (kalyana yellai saapadu) on October 2, 2018.

Volunteers are needed in different locations around zonal offices in Anna Nagar and Ambattur currently.

The various requirements are:

Task : Welcoming the guests and guiding them
  • Number of volunteers: 5
  • Preferred:  Those who are comfortable standing for a few hours.
Task : Garlanding with medals
  • Number of volunteers: 5-10 on either side.
  • Preferred: Those who are comfortable standing for a few hours.
Task : Hospitality
  • Number of volunteers: 20 (can include those above)
  • Preferred: Those who are comfortable carrying heavy buckets of food.
Task : Entertainment / MC
  • Number of volunteers: 10 (Either recorded or short performances / engaging the crowd)
  • Anyone is welcome.
Task : Cleaning
  • Number of volunteers: 10 (disposal of leaves, cleaning premises)
  • Anyone is welcome.

For more details, visit www.ecokitchen.org

 

Fill up the form to register as a volunteer

Volunteer at the Purple Run for Alzheimers, Sep 30 | Chennai

The second edition of marquee campaign – The Purple Run, a marathon for spreading awareness on Alzheimer’s disease and mental health. Alzheimer’s is the 5th leading cause of death in people over 55 years old, and in India, more than 4 million people suffer from some form of dementia. Despite this, there’s a stigma attached to mental illness among us. The Purple Run, is an initiative by FORUM to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s and mental illness among the young for the elderly.

There was an overwhelming response last year and they are looking at a minimum of 3000 runners this year in Chennai with 100+ business partners and 20,000 runners across the country. They are in need of volunteers to assist and manage the event. They have associated with Bhumi like last year, for providing volunteers to manage and coordinate the event.

Date – Sunday | September 30, 2018

Register below to volunteer or coordinate the Purple Run 2018

For further details, contact @ 8754552472

 

 

CAREER ORIENTATION AND MENTORING SCHOOL CHILDREN

About the program:

High school years are fraught with anxiety as children are often questioned about their future choices. And mostly they make their decisions without sufficient knowledge. Are they playing to their skills and strengths OR are they being swayed by market trends? Research proves that children who take advantage of their innate skills and temperament are more likely to succeed (and ease the stress). The stress is even more in the case of high school children from low income neighborhoods who do not have many educated adults around them to guide.

We at United Efforts, a Bangalore based Not-for-profit are working to address this exact issue in high schools in low income neighborhoods by providing these young adults with career orientation and mentoring. YOU CAN CHOOSE TO BE AN AGENT OF CHANGE IN THEIR LIVES. This will ensure that they do not drop out of the school and influenced wrongly into crime etc. Our neighborhoods will be safer and the youth will work to get their families out of poverty.

 

WHAT: You will be pegged to schools in your neighborhood where you will have to spend a minimum of 4 to 5 hours a week delivering career overview of various industries

HOW: You will be provided training in IIM Bangalore campus. The training will be provided free of cost by experts from IIM Bangalore and Child & Adolescent Psychologists !

WHO: Anyone around 30 years of age or more willing to contribute to nation building now.

Training sessions for mentors have been scheduled for August 28, 2018.

For more details contact, [email protected] | 9632775119

Kindly fill in the form given below to register:

Volunteer with Aid for Child Trust

About ACT:

The Aid for Child Trust (ACT) is a non-profit organisation founded in September 2015 in India that envisions “a world where every child lives in dignity”. Their mission is to solve the problems of poverty and human rights violation around the world by ensuring a lasting change to the lives of project beneficiaries. Currently, they have education projects in Noida and Bihar in India and emergency food assistance projects in South Sudan.

 

They require volunteers throughout the year and here is an opportunity use your skills and enthusiasm for those who are in need. Volunteer with Aid for Child Trust in their education program for schools to help them get quality education. Aid for child trust is giving spoken English classes to under-privileged children.

They require volunteers who are fluent in English language to take classes for children.

Location : Sector 15, Noida

Duration: 1 hour per session for 3 days in a week

Timings: 11 AM to 3 PM

If you are staying around Noida willing to help with the education of children with a fluency in English, volunteer with them.

For more information about Aid for Child Trust, Click here!

Follow their updates on facebook, click here!

You can also contact them in this number  9955147839 or Email your details to [email protected]

Kindly fill up the form given below:

Earth Shastra 2.0 – Program

Youth Alliance aims to nurture empathetic leaders who apply their head, heart and hands to understand and serve the world making it more equitable,  cooperative and sustainable.

About the program
Earth-Shastra brings together 30 young change-agents in its second edition to embark on a 9-day immersive journey from across the country two times a year, in April and October. To explore the relationship between economics, ecology and the human self. After a remarkable first edition in Palampur (H.P.), we are launching the second edition that shall happen in the Western Ghats from 8th – 16th October, 2018. 


It is bringing together people from across the country to embark a journey in the Sahyadri Hills to understand this relationship between economics, ecology and human self. We shall deepen our lost connection with nature, deconstruct the current economic system and understand the ongoing economic and environmental crisis from an integrated lens.  It inadvertently involves focus on personal transformation and nurturing deep community over the 9-days and beyond.

 

Venue: Govardhan Eco Village near Mumbai.

Cohort Composition

It is open to have participants from all kinds of backgrounds. However we are looking for people meeting atleast one of the following criteria:

  • Passionate about the environmental issues and committed to do something about it
  • Working or studying in the domain of Environmental Studies/Economics/Development/Public Policy
  • Working with corporate/non-profit/goverment and keen to understand how the dynamics between economics and environment play out in their context
  • Willing to take forward the learning from the program and apply in their communities
  • Are in the age group 18-30 years (exceptions on case-to-case basis)

First Application deadline: August 5, 2018

Final Application deadline: September 2, 2018

If you are willing to develop the capacity to understand the big picture and the humility to start with small actions, this is for you!

Click here to apply now!

To know more about the program, click here!

VoICE with Alert – India’s superhero network

ALERT VoICE(Volunteers In Case of Emergency) is first of it’s kind project in India that bridges the gap between medical emergency and arrival of professional help with voluntary First Response. It is a unique opportunity for a common man to rise up to the occasion and make a difference in the lives of many families.

As part of this project ALERT will train and enroll common public, yes You, to be part of a very ELITE NETWORK OF FIRST RESPONDERS in the country.
The network will be active in attending to any medical emergency on road, at home, workplace or even yourself.
What You Will Get:
  •  Two-day intensive first aid training program
  • Comprehensive first aid kit
  • First responder reflector jacket
  • Joint certification from ALERT and Apollo Hospitals
  • Life saver flash card

India’s first Superhero network with Chennai!

Road traffic accident: People gather around and do nothing till the ambulance arrives!

Heart attack at office: Colleagues panic and do nothing till the ambulance arrives!

Epilepsy (Fits) at home: The whole family panics and does nothing till the ambulance arrives!

We often hear from doctors “If only the patient had been given first aid or brought in a few minutes ago, he could have been saved.”

What if YOU were there?

Will you save the victim and be a Real HERO? Yes?

Apply here!

To know more about this program, click here.

Daan Utsav – Joy of Giving Week

2018 will be the tenth year of Daan Utsav also known as Joy of Giving week, which is celebrated in India every year from October 2-8. A platform that brings together people from different walks of life and unites them in the act of giving. In 2017, over 60 lakh people across 200 cities participated in this event which included over 1000 companies, 1000 NGOS and the organisation of over 1100 events across the nation.
Daan Utsav

Who can take up this Internship

  • Students studying in/ visiting their hometown for vacation/ internship
  • Highly motivated and dedicated career-focused students

 

Perks

  • Certificate of Internship from Bhumi
  •  Opportunity to participate in a National level campaign
  • Awards for exceptional performance

 

Internship Responsibilities

  • To network and develop a connect with faculty/ student coordinator of NSS/ NCC/ YRC/
  • Entrepreneurship cell/ any other potential social causes club of Universities/ Colleges in your hometown
  • To communicate and share resources of Bhumi’s Daan Utsav Campaign
  •  Motivate colleges to participate in the campaign
  • To collect and compile details of interested professors/ student

 

Other Information

  • Travel and communication expenses can be reimbursed on prior request

 

Apply for the internship now, if you are interested. For queries reach out to [email protected]