The story dates back to many years on a cold, dark, wintry night when I used to reside in Delhi. It was a weekend and Vikram and I had gone to PVR Saket for a late night show. The exit of PVR Saket in those days was through a series of steps and while coming down I saw a small figure wriggling on one of the steps asking for alms. All the stories of people dying due to excessive cold in Delhi that year flashed in front of my eyes. I looked at the figure and it stared back at me with large, sad eyes. It is only then that I realised that it was a little boy who, skimply clad was trying to play on our emotions to earn whatever little money he could. I usually don’t support begging but that night at 2.30 am, to see him pull a stunt when he could seriously fall prey to the cold made me feel pathetic. Here I was wrapped in three layers with boots and still feeling the chill. I gave him one of my sweaters and my socks and got him hot soup and noodles from the local Chinese van. I gave him some cash too, with a promise to not pull these stunts in the night. He was an orphan and stayed around the area along with a few other boys and girls like him.
I even went back looking for him after a few days but never found him again. Life passed and today the ‘EzeeHugs‘ campaign again reminded of the plight of the people in Delhi, Mumbai and other cities who might not be able to afford woolens. #EzeeHugs was a humble initiative by Godrej Ezee last winter in Delhi to urge people to donate their old woolens to the needy kids. More than top 145 schools joined the initiative and appealed to their students to donate their woolens and bring warmth and comfort to the lives of needy children.
Collection boxes were also placed in various Hindustan Times Qualified Booking Centres across Delhi/NCR. After hearing about the campaign through print, radio and social media, many corporates and play schools approached Ezee Hugs to contribute to the cause and donate their old woolens. While the participants took the challenge with great enthusiasm, however not a single participant was able to brave the cold beyond four minutes and snuggled back to their woolens. It is then that they realised how harsh winters are for the underprivileged children and were happy to donate and support the cause. This year, the Ezee Hugs partnered with OLA Cabs who collected woolens from the donors’ homes. Emails and SMS were also sent to the users to remind them to donate their old woolens for the needy
A whopping 76742 woolens were collected through this initiative and were redistributed to the underprivileged kids through the Aarohan NGO. #EzeeCares
I could not have found a better reason to associate with this campaign. A brand thought of and is doing something for these kids, a task that I wish I had taken up long back. Let’s appreciate and spread the word people so that more and more such initiatives are taken up.
p.s This is a sponsored post but I would any day like to be a part of this initiative. All experiences mentioned are real and my own.
You may also like:
