Gift A Smile! Here's How This NGO Is Spreading Joy Among Underprivileged Children This Christmas

For all those who thought Santa Claus was not real, this Chennai-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) proves otherwise. This Christmas, the AGUA Women Foundation will be reaching out to underprivileged children through their flagship program titled 'Gifting Smiles'.

Over the years, the foundation has brought together volunteers and other good samaritans to collect gifts, wrap them up, and present a smile to the children in the street. This time too, they have put up a list of volunteering initiatives that would enable people to come together and be a part of their mission to spread smiles.

Spreading Joy Through 'Surprise'

AGUA's page opens up with the question, "Life's most persistent question is, what are you doing for others?" Giving social media users some food for thought, they also suggest a way in which they could bring joy to someone else's life. 'Gifting Smiles' is a flagship initiative of AGUA Women Foundation that collects presents and takes them as gifts for underprivileged children in the streets. According to an article by The Hindu, "Surprise" is the key element of this entire initiative, which is successfully gifting happiness for the seventh year.

The drive, scheduled for the first week of January, will primarily focus on areas in and around East Coast Road, where the fishing communities reside. However, with their growing volunteer community, they also hope to take the drive out to various other neighbourhoods across the city. Currently, they have over 300 volunteers who collate and raise funds from the month of October. They then come together to buy age-appropriate new toys for children, gift wraps them in December and then distribute them by the time of Christmas.

Acts Of Kindness

AGUA was founded in 2012 by former corporate professional Subha Pandiyan. The foundation is a women's network that is described to be "knit with friendship, sisterhood, and vibe tribe." Gifting Smiles is a charitable initiative under the same that was started to support kids in and around Chennai while truly embracing the spirit of giving.

The group collects different kinds of items over the month -- toys, books, shoes, sweets -- and distributes them as little packages of 'surprise' to the less fortunate children. Their team has been able to distribute over 8,000 gifts since being established and has reached out to a large group of kids from migrant families, Tsunami colonies, and orphanages. Last year, they were able to distribute over 5,500 toys in various areas, including Injambakkam Kuppam, Panaiyur Kuppam, Nainar Kuppam, and Kaanathur Kuppam, and this year, they plan on covering a lot more areas on the coastline.

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