Daan Utsav – Joy Of Giving

Daan Utsav – Joy Of Giving

YOU GET MOST THINGS IN LIFE NOT BY TAKING, BUT BY GIVING – Bryant McGill

Research says that the psychological benefits of giving and volunteering go beyond the increased experience of positive emotions among psychologically healthy populations. We hope that our cause to donate will inspire more people to indulge in life’s greatest pleasure- ‘Giving’, for, every act of giving is an act of kindness and compassion.

Many of us believe that if only we had more time and money, we would be happier. In fact, there is much research finding that giving our time and money makes us happier, even though after giving, we have less for ourselves. Moreover, it is also said that giving is literally contagious. This contagiousness led us to launch the event ‘Daan Utsav’, after the successful implementation of MERU CSR, 2020.

The year 2020 has been a year that we all will remember for a number of reasons. Like every other year, 2020 too began with a lot of hope and aspiration that the end to the decade will be noteworthy. When the pandemic struck upon humanity and lockdown was imposed, millions were affected. Many were left jobless and countless others, without food and shelter.

Media played a very important role in reflecting the ‘Daan’ that is taking place all over. 2020 was the year of ‘richness’, where all of us contributed to the upliftment of the worst affected. This generation has never seen generosity and philanthropy of such magnitude to help the needy. MERU has always been at the forefront to support the not so privileged, to ensure their well-being. At the same time, Meru has played a very selfless role for the happiness of each and every member of the school. The gratification that we experienced from this gesture is ineffable.

As stated earlier, the contagious feeling to ‘give’ kept tickling throughout 2020. Towards the end of the year 2020, we wanted to celebrate the culmination of one of the most eventful years of our time by inviting more people to indulge in giving. We sent out a message asking people to contribute logically to the cause. True to our call, people from all over Hyderabad donated innumerable clothing items, blankets, toys, groceries, childcare items, e-learning devices, books etc. to this great cause.

Over a span of two weeks, we collected these goods in the ‘Daan Utsav’ boxes which were placed at our school, various corporate offices and residential communities. We brought these boxes back to school, sanitized all the material that was donated to us and then distributed the material to the needy and underprivileged, in and around MERU International school. The fact that people donated in such large numbers during this crisis reiterates the fact that our intent matters and we not only care for our people but also for people at large.

With ‘Daan Utsav’, we extended our support to more than a thousand families in the city by donating to the cause. We thank all the donors for their large heartedness and look forward to more such initiatives. In the near future, we hope to encourage and empower more people to give back to our society in any way they can. We truly believe in what Robert Ingersoll said, “We rise by lifting others.”

By:
Harsha
Innovation and Strategy Lead
MERU International School