PLAYING
FROM THE HEART
The Smile-Xansa 20-20 Corporate Cricket Tournament
2006 |
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When
Xansa and the Smile Foundation came together to organize this
tournament and "Play for a Cause", the response
from the corporate sector was wonderfully encouraging. And
well before the first ball was bowled on the 2nd of December,
2006, as many as 16 enthusiastic teams had already entered
the fray.
Apart
from Xansa, the field included Ericsson, Citi Financial, Deutsche
Bank, Reebok, Canon, Bank of America, Hewlett Packard, Airtel,
Opto Group, Verint, TCL, GE Money, Indian Air Force, IBM-Daksh
and Ginni Filaments.
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The
Academy has also been working for larger social welfare. It
has provided employment to the needy under the 'Berozgar ko
Rozgar' scheme - by first eliciting a promise from them to
send their children to school as soon as their income stabilizes!
It has tried to encourage the Muslim community towards family
planning.
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It
has identified 300 illiterate children who will be educated
during the summer vacations. And has plans to construct buildings
for schools that conduct classes in the open. The cricket
was truly for a noble cause : generating support and resources
for the welfare of 2000 street-children across Delhi. Smile
has specially identified this segment for assistance : recognizing
their stark vulnerability, lack of education, and involvement
in such unpleasant activities as begging and ragpicking.
The
tournament was inaugurated by former national player Sanjeev
Sharma. The Indian Air Force (Officers) team lifted the Smile-Xansa
Trophy in the final played on 21st January, 2007 at the Air
Force Sports Complex, Palam, New Delhi - a game witnessed
among others by the Chief Guest, Indian cricketer Akash Chopra.
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"This
is a great tournament and I congratulate the participants
for being a part of this noble cause."
-- Daman Dev Sood, Xansa
"I
would like to thank and congratulate Smile Foundation for
organizing a tournament to support underprivileged children.
I would like to support this cause in future too."
-- Akash Chopra, Indian cricketer
"I
appreciate Smile for spreading this universal courage and
bring people jointly to play for a cause."
-- Kirti Azad, former cricketer
"I
appreciate Smile's effort to take this game as a medium to
help those children who have only dreams in their eyes. I
hope that very soon these children can change their dreams
into reality."
-- Maninder Singh, former cricketer
Smile
now intends to organize this Tournament at the national level,
as an annual event, next year onwards. This way, it hopes
to support and benefit a larger number of underprivileged
children across India.
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Caring
for the less fortunate
Smile finds keen CSR partners |
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No
longer orphans : HDFC & Smile make it happen
Smile is currently supporting four orphanages in the Sambalpur
region of weatern Orissa. Established by concerned individuals
and former freedom fighters, the institutions together house
158 children.
Until Smile's intervention, the orphanages were finding survival
extremely difficult, in spite of State financial assistance.
Now, in partnership with a local NGO called 'Utsarga', Smile
has not only alleviated their discomfort, but has also contributed
to the construction of residential facilities.
To make things even better, India's premier finance company
HDFC has also joined hands in this caring endeavour. It has
volunteered to provide all capital expenses as well as part
of recurring costs for the project this year. The Rs 2,00,000
aid will be used to improve basic amenities, provide nutritional
supplements, create recreational facilities and support ongoing
educational and healthcare programmes.
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From
rags to Smile : with help from HSBC
It was 2nd December,'06. Suddenly, HSBC's Barakhamba
Road branch was swarming with a crowd of children rag-pickers
! No, they hadn't walked in uninvited - past security
- but were there as special guests in a unique contact
programme.
The children were brought together by Smile, in association
with HSBC, and spent a whole day of fun-filled activities
in the office with the staff. The simple objective :
sensitizing people to the social and emotional needs
of the children, and making the kids feel cared for
and a dignified part of society.
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