New Delhi, July 24, 2020: The world is going through a transformational phase that has left a huge impact on the economy and most importantly, its people. While the government has taken various initiatives to mitigate the impact, the livelihood of marginalized communities in these unprecedented times has been drastically hit. In times as such, it becomes crucial that every citizen steps forward and help those who need it the most.
This is when 2 young sisters from Bangalore, Dhriti Arya who’s 15 and Dhiksha Arya who’s 11 years decided to step forward and make a difference.
For Dhriti Arya, animals and community service have always been very close to her heart. During the lockdown, when a cat landed up at her doorstep on the 5th floor at 11 in the night meowing for food, she realised that there could be many more stray animals suffering hunger. Soon that thought was developing in an idea and she started researching and reading online to realise that even pet owners are abandoning their pets due to the fear of COVID 19 infection.
She learned from her father and from news about homeless and migrant workers who were stranded away from their homes with no shelter or food.That’s when it struck her that she and her sister can make a difference during this current crisis with the help of her family and created “LightUpLives”. This was a student initiative to help the needy (animals and people) by raising funds for their necessities. Their Motto is “Each one of us is capable of contributing in a small manner and every rupee counts”.
With a young mind but fierce in with her goals and planning, she contacted and on-boarded 3 organisations – The Karnataka Jesuit Educational Society that helped procure grocery kits to people, Aarogya Seva that helped distribute Hygiene Kits & Sanitary Napkins and WAHTS (We Are Here To Serve) Foundation who work with various individuals and organizations to feed the strays, including cattle. To support her noble initiative, Dr. Dheeraj Kashyap(Vetnary) helped with an ambulance for animal rescue.
Through the support of friends, family and well-wishers, she has been able to raise 1 Lakh till date and has used this amount towards distributing Grocery kits for the Gola Basava community and orphanages, Hygiene kits to the children in 3 slums (names) and Sanitary napkins to the young girls and women in the slums (names), with the help of ASHA health workers through the Primary Health Centres.
In Dhriti’s words “I knew I wanted to make a difference and while the initial steps are always challenging, my goal was larger than that. I realized people wanted to support and are looking for trustworthy and reliable organisations, which are transparent and make a difference”.
Dhiksha the younger sibling, on the other hand is someone who loves ballet and baking. When she saw many migrant and homeless children getting nothing but basic food, she felt that baking Cupcakes for them would bring a smile on their faces. Her motto was ” Make and give whatever you can with whatever you have” as it is the effort that matters. She baked more than 500 cupcakes and with the support of her parents, they distributed this in 5 slums amid the current crisis. She was completely overwhelmed and thrilled to see the kind of warm and positive vibes she received from all the underprivileged children and their families.
The young sisters believe that no contribution or effort is small, if everyone can come together it will make a difference in millions of lives and build a more equitable world.
Corporate Comm India (CCI Newswire)
