For almost a decade now, the first week of October has been associated with Daan Utsav, an event that sees corporates, NGOs, schools, colleges, and individuals come forward and donate various items to those in need.
This year, IamHere Software Labs in association with The Better India is launching the India Goodness Hunt — a digital treasure hunt that will benefit underprivileged children in need. This is basically a contest running on social media with the idea of helping one lakh children across the country this Daan Utsav.
It was Nehru who described India as a bundle of contradictions. On the one hand, our cities are witnessing a rapid growth in the number of slimming and fitness centres, while in rural India, approximately 3,000 children die because of malnutrition every day.
One in four children in India is malnourished, and while there is no shortage of NGOs working to better these statistics, one does not always have the time to verify and ascertain whether the organisation is genuine, and how one can help them.
IamHere Software Labs is trying to bridge this gap between people who want to contribute and NGOs that are doing meaningful work in the social sector.
We, at The Better India, spoke to Naren Kumar, the Co-Founder & CEO, IamHere Software Labs about this initiative.
“When we started the aggregation exercise of the 8700+ verified NGOs of GuideStar India – the country’s most reliable NGO information repository, we knew this is going to be pretty big. It is a known fact that people give so much more of their money, material and mind when they visit and see NGOs operating. Most of the NGOs across the country are doing a phenomenal job, but not everyone knows about them,” he said.
Hence IamHere came up with an app that allows you to interact with an NGO before you chose to contribute.
Naren goes on to say, “When the aggregation was complete, we wanted to let people know that there is now a platform where they can find the nearest NGOs, know what cause they are working on, chat with them, view their stories, join their events and even donate to them, all just through a mobile app.”
This year, IamHere has come up with a unique proposition, which will make you a part of the solution. The India Goodness Hunt is a chance for people to do something to help. The reason this concept is unique is that it takes into consideration the busy lifestyle that many of us lead.
If you do not have the time to visit an NGO, all you need to do is play the online quiz sitting at home, and this tiny effort will help some child somewhere in the country get access to food.
What’s the treasure hunt all about? Well, there are two parts to this game, the online and offline hunts.
The Digital treasure hunt (online)
10 cities will have a set of 10 questions, each pointing to 10 NGOs. The questions will be floated on the website and will give clues about the location, cause and other information on the NGOs.
1. Get on to IamHere and take the quiz.
2. For every participant completing ten questions, a mid-day meal will be sponsored to a child.
3. You can download the App and send a message to IamHere with your message to the children. the top messages will win an Amazon Kindle.
Visit and make a difference (offline)
1. Visit any NGO in India, take a selfie in front of the Name Board and post it on Social Media with three hashtags— #iVisitedanNGO, #DaanUtsav and #GivingTuesdayIndia.
2. For every person who does the above between Oct 2-8, 10 Children will be provided with a mid-day meal in your name. This is applicable for the first 10,000 visits, i.e., 100,000 meals.
3. If you do not know which NGO to visit, check here or here for information on NGOs near you.
This initiative hopes to get together 10,000 participants across India, which will translate to 100,000 meals.
Narendra ends our conversation, saying, “This contest is open during this week of DaanUtsav from Oct 2-8. I would urge everyone across the country to participate in this. For every game that people play, for every visit that people do, there is a child who is winning something. I think our children deserve this support from us.”
Here’s your chance to make a difference from the comfort of your own home or use those hashtags and selfies for a good cause. Do it today!
(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)
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