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What Do You Do When an Animal Shelter Is Closing? This 16-Year Old Raised Rs. 1 Lakh in 3 Days!

A well-known and well-loved animal shelter in Delhi, Friendicoes, is facing an enormous financial crunch and is on the verge of shutting down. We’re really inspired by the story of Diva, a Class 12 student, who raised an incredible Rs 1 lakh in just 3 days to help the shelter.

What Do You Do When an Animal Shelter Is Closing? This 16-Year Old Raised Rs. 1 Lakh in 3 Days!

A well-known and well-loved animal shelter in Delhi, Friendicoes, is facing an enormous financial crunch and is on the verge of shutting down. Many people from around the country are trying to help by raising funds for this animal home. But we’re really inspired by the story of Diva, a Class 12 student, who raised an incredible Rs 1 lakh in just 3 days for this cause.

Diva Sharma loves animals. But her affection for the four legged species is not limited to just sharing cute dog and cat videos on social media. She is a girl of action and her efforts are helping her favourite animal shelter keep its doors open.

Diva was one of the first few who stepped up on hearing the sad news about the shelter.

Diva shares a close bond with animals at Friendicoes which inspired her to do something about the shelter's fund crunch.
Diva shares a close bond with animals at Friendicoes which inspired her to do something about the shelter’s fund crunch.

“I share a very close bond with Friendicoes and the animals there. I have been working on a project ‑ called Project Petsafe ‑ related to animal welfare. This has been going on for some time now and it’s also how I first got in touch with Friendicoes; they happily agreed to help me with it. I have seen their work closely and I know how amazing they are. When I got to know about their financial crunch I just knew I had to help them out,” says Diva.

Soon, Diva, a student of GD Goenka Public School, was on a mission to save Friendicoes. She started raising funds for the shelter home and approached her friends and school for the same. She made an announcement in the school assembly and requested the students and teachers to donate whatever they could. Both responded with alacrity.

“Children are naturally compassionate towards animals. I knew if I asked the school children they’d come forward for help. Though Freindicoes had started an online fundraising campaign already, not many people knew about it. Many people are not familiar with the concept of online crowd-funding. That is when I first thought of raising funds for this cause,” she says.


Related Story: How People Across India Donated Rs 13 Lakh in a Day to Save an Animal Shelter from Shutting Down 


To increase the reach of her initiative, Diva started a Facebook page called Project Petsafe, where she invited more people to donate.

She also approached her friends from other schools and put up posters at various locations.

She soon started getting many calls from across Delhi. Many schools approached her and showed an interest in supporting her initiative. So far, about seven schools from Delhi have shown interest in helping with Diva’s mission to save Friendicoes.

Diva’s aggressive efforts have really paid off — she managed to raise Rs 1 lakh in just three days.

Diva Sharma raised over a lakh in just three days for Friendicoes.

“This was more than what we had expected. The response was phenomenal and so many people showed their love towards Friendicoes,” she says.

She also plans to collaborate with Friendicoes to organise small events and concerts to raise more funds. “We plan to organise such concerts in October. I guess this will help us raise funds faster and in a more structured manner,” she says.

Diva’s efforts won’t stop at just donating this first round of funding (Rs 1 lakh) to Friendicoes. She plans to continue her support by raising additional funds, as well as collecting food, medical supplies and other necessary material for the animals.

Helping Friendicoes stay open is just one step towards the larger goal Diva wants to achieve.

As part of Project Petsafe, Diva has been working on developing a monitoring mechanism to detect distress in animals.

Diva is also working on a project to help animals in distress.
Diva is also working on a project to help animals in distress.

“I had a dog and she saw a very painful death because we could not identify the issue in time. There was no mechanism that could detect her need for medical intervention at an early stage. I was very close to her and this is when I decided to work on a project that can help cater to the immediate medical need of an already sick animal,” she says.

To know more about Diva’s work, contact her at – dsharma1998@gmail.com. Support her to raise more funds for Freindicoes through her Facebook page. Check out her website for details on her other interesting projects.

Like this story? Or have something to share? Write to us: contact@thebetterindia.com, or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter (@thebetterindia).

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