Dr. Geetanjali Chopra Archives - Media Bulletins Today News Bulletin in English

Dr. Geetanjali Chopra, Founder & President, Delhi based Wishes & Blessings NGO

News

Wishes and Blessings NGO Conducts a Research Survey on the Occasion of International Day of Charity

Sep 24, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Delhi based Wishes & Blessings NGO, #Dr. Geetanjali Chopra, #Founder & President

New Delhi: With an objective to understand the role of India’s youth in charity and social work, Delhi- based NGO, Wishes and Blessings, executed a research survey. The survey was hosted on account of the International Day of Charity, which is celebrated on 5 September annually. The prime purpose of this yearly event is to raise awareness and to provide a common platform for charity-related activities all over the world, for individuals, as well as charitable and philanthropic organizations.

The ‘Charity and You(th)’ research survey was conducted online by Wishes and Blessings, focusing on individuals falling in the age bracket of 14 to 20 years. Over 500 respondents showed interest and participated in this survey.
The NGO has been able to generate concrete statistics through the research survey and has shared vital information on the perception of youth on the social sector at large. Wishes and Blessings believes that such research surveys will help the organization to formulate more youth-friendly plans and projects.

“The youth is a valuable reserve for our country, as they have the energy, resources and unique constructive thoughts that if guided properly, can be executed to bring about sustainable and effective change. The survey was carried out for us to understand the youth in a better way when it comes to social work and charity. I was truly fascinated seeing the results myself.”, says Dr. Geetanjali Chopra, Founder & President of Wishes and Blessings.

The participants were asked both subjective as well objective questions in this survey. The study revealed various interesting statistics, like-

• 482 individuals want to indulge in social service
• 500+ individuals believe that social work is an important field of work
• 490+ individuals believe that NGOs are a necessary element in the machinery of society in general

“We at Wishes and Blessings provide unique opportunities for the youth to engage in social work that is valuable not only for young individuals, but also for the beneficiaries. This research survey is just the beginning, now that we have the results with us, we would like to further understand, how the youth can be guided to bring about the change.” continues Dr. Chopra.

The organization firmly believes that this research will play a vital role in comprehending the participation and interest of youth in social services and charity a large. A copy of the published report can be accessed by following the link https://wishesandblessings.net/blog/charity-and-youth-a-study/

Wishes and Blessings

Wishes and Blessings is a registered NGO based in Delhi, with a presence in Assam, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. Set up under the aegis of Dr. Geetanjali Chopra in 2014, the organization cuts across the spectrum of gender and age to help those who need it. The NGO is a unique platform to connect donors and beneficiaries, to bring together those who are blessed to help those who have unfulfilled wishes. They believe that happiness is not just an end, but a means to an end as well and therefore do not have one focus area but 6 causes among which are education, nutrition, care for elders, relief, customizable charity, and the overall cause of happiness.

Business World

Wishes and Blessings NGO Conducts Stationery Kits Distribution Drive for Underprivileged Children, on Account of Independence Day

Aug 17, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #and Anand Chandrashekhar, #Barkha Hazarika, #Core Team, #Dr. Geetanjali Chopra, #Founder & President of Wishes and Blessings, #Mohd Junaid, #Wishes and Blessings

New Delhi: In order to help street children kick-start their educational journeys and write brighter futures for themselves, Delhi-based NGO, Wishes and Blessings, commemorated the 75th Independence Day of India in a distinctive way by distributing educational kits in Delhi. Through this initiative, the organization hopes to guide these destitute children towards independent and empowered lives, enabling them to make their own informed decisions. The NGO believes that this will create a ripple effect, and the children and their parents will prioritize education.

“Through this drive, we at Wishes and Blessings are hoping to set in motion the educational journey of these underprivileged children. By providing them with access to educational supplies, we hope to create a foundation for independence and empowerment. Our children are like seeds. If nourished properly, we will have a progressive nation and a healthier society!” says Dr. Geetanjali Chopra, Founder & President of Wishes and Blessings.

The Wishes and Blessings core team distributed 75 stationery kits to destitute children in Madipur Village, Delhi. Each kit contained: pens, pencils, sharpeners, erasers, sketchbooks, and crayons.

“This stationery kit distribution will act as positive reinforcement and will encourage both children and their parents to take education seriously. At the end of the day, the main objective of this drive was to provide resources that otherwise would not be made available by the families of these children, because of their financial situation. Besides, we also provided drawing books and crayons in the same kit so that these children could experiment with colours. Who knows, maybe a new artist emerges from these streets!” continues Dr. Chopra.

Stationery kit distribution

“We felt good to see that Wishes and Blessings is doing so much for our children. Education is fundamental to have a brighter future. We don’t want our kids to take daily wage jobs in the future like their father. Since the team has helped us so much, we will also ensure to do our best to support our children.” says Seema, mother of a beneficiary.

“The children were really excited to receive these stationery kits. We truly feel blessed to have kick-started this positive change in their lives! It was heartwarming to see children who have never held a pen before to hold these kits close to their hearts, with hope to start writing better futures for themselves!” say Barkha Hazarika, Mohd Junaid, and Anand Chandrashekhar, Core Team, Wishes and Blessings.

Wishes and Blessings Education Initiatives

Wishes and Blessings has been running various education-centric programmes since 2014. The organization ensures to make education accessible to every child under its wings. The NGO is constantly working with children in need to empower them with knowledge along with emotional security so they can support themselves in the future. Through Sponsor a Childhood Programme, the organization facilitates the education of children from a variety of demographics which include underprivileged children, children living with HIV and visual impairment, orphaned children, and children with special needs. Under their Street to School Programme, the organization acts a bridge between the street and the school, and has been providing informal education to over 500 children living in vulnerable situations. Till date, Wishes and Blessings has guided 1000+ children towards happier and brighter futures.

Wishes and Blessings

News

Wishes and Blessings NGO and EO Distributed Free of Cost Meals to Vulnerable Communities across Delhi

Jun 26, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Dr. Geetanjali Chopra, #EO New Delhi representative, #Founder & President of Wishes and Blessings NGO., #Mr. Naval Chopra

New Delhi: Committed to aiding the needy and destitute, Wishes and Blessings NGO tied up with entrepreneurial network, The Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) New Delhi, to provide hot and nutritious cooked meals to the homeless, destitute and at-risk individuals and families, in Delhi under its Covid Relief Project, 2021.

“EO New Delhi is delighted to partner with Wishes and Blessings to extend its ‘Khaana by EO’ programme to migrant labour and poor who have been forgotten. We thank Wishes and Blessingsfor allowing us to serve through them”, says Mr. Naval Chopra, EO New Delhi representative.

Through this collaborative effort, packed cooked meals were being distributed twice a day to the needy across the national capital including the hamlets and jhuggis in Ruchi Vihar. These meals were cooked by the chefs at Hyatt Regency, Delhi under strict sanitation conditions and are provided to the needy, completely free of cost. Under the programme, 1200 meals were distributed to the destitute, on a daily basis. Wishes and Blessings’ team ensured that social distancing norms were followed strictly, during the distribution drive.

“We are extremely grateful to be associated with social-minded and conscientious organizations such EO New Delhi. With this extension of support, Wishes and Blessings was able to extend its services to even more people in need during this time of crisis.”, says Dr. Geetanjali Chopra, Founder & President of Wishes and Blessings NGO.

The Wishes and Blessings Covid Relief Project was officially launched on day 1 of the lockdown i.e. 25th March 2020, and provided relief and aid in 7 states across India. Since then, the team has served over 20,00,000 meals, distributed 70,000+ dry ration kits and provided 23,000+ hygiene kits to the beneficiaries. Wishes and Blessings had launched the WB Ambulances for Covid Relief Project in August 2020 wherein free transport was provided to the underprivileged to reach treatment centres, as well as for executing tests in quarantine zones. Currently, the Covid Relief Project is active in 6 states- Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, and aims at fulfilling immediate and long term requirements of the needy and destitute affected by the Covid-19 crisis.

Education, News

‘Street To School’ Programme Goes Online

Apr 28, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #‘Street to School, #Dr. Geetanjali Chopra, #Founder & President of Wishes and Blessings NGO.

New Delhi: The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way children are being educated. The lockdown has pushed learning from schools into homes. From virtual classrooms to handing out assignments over WhatsApp, technology has played a major role in ensuring that education remains unaffected during this crisis. While this may be true for the privileged class, the reality is quite different for the poor and underprivileged. The lockdown has effectively put a halt on the education of children from rural areas, and low-income households in cities. To ensure that the education of the street children remains unaffected during the pandemic, Wishes and Blessings NGO has converted its ‘Street to School’ programme to the online mode from this month.
“When we opened centres after a time gap of 8 months, in January 2021 we realised that our kids living on the streets and slums had already forgotten basic concepts; book knowledge was far behind,” says Dr. Geetanjali Chopra, Founder & President of Wishes and Blessings NGO.

“Last year when the pandemic hit, all our centres had to abruptly go on hold and there wasn’t any way to continue the education for our kids. This year again, due to the rise in cases the centres had to be shut, however, we decided to continue the training, guidance and counselling through online modes. The shift was executed keeping in mind the need to ensure that the education of these children should continue as smoothly as possible, even during the pandemic,” adds Dr. Chopra.

The NGO, which operates its day care centres in Okhla and Vasant Vihar, Delhi enrolled the children for online education and divided them into groups of 3 on the basis of age, and each group was assigned a teacher in charge. Currently, modules are shared via Whatsapp groups and cover all formal subjects as well as art and craft activities. The teachers of Wishes and Blessings share videos explaining the lessons and then worksheets are assigned to the children, which the students fill in and then send back via the groups. “In cases where children do not have access to the internet, the questions are either shared by children who do have access, or sit in groups and complete the assignments together”, further added Dr. Chopra.

The Wishes and Blessings team coordinates with the teachers to formulate educational modules that ensure that the children are engaged while studying. This involves continuously adapting and evolving the curriculum to capture the students’ attention. At the same time, the teachers are undergoing training of their own so that they are equipped to cater to the needs of their students. The teachers also ensure to hold one-on-one sessions with children who require additional guidance and counselling during these tough times, and support them emotionally as well.
Currently, there are 85 children who are being guided towards brighter futures through the ‘Street to School’ Programme. They primarily belong to two locations: Vasant Vihar and Okhla, Delhi.

Wishes and Blessings NGO launched the ‘Street To School’ Programme through its physical centres in Delhi and NCR in the year 2016 and has been able to successfully send its children to formal schools. The students have excelled not only in academics but have proven their capabilities in other extracurricular activities as well.

News

Wishes And Blessings Organized Series Of Events To Commemorate Seven Years Of Serving The Needy

Apr 23, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Dr. Geetanjali Chopra, #Founder and President, #Wishes and Blessings

DELHI: Wishes and Blessings, a Delhi based NGO, has organized a series of unique and eventful celebrations across 3 states in India to mark the occasion of turning 7.

To commemorate the milestone, the team at Wishes and Blessings had several exciting and elaborate events planned. However, keeping in mind the Covid-19 pandemic, the celebrations will be scaled down, and celebrated with strict guidelines, in-person. The NGO has organized a week-long set of events which will culminate on the organization’s actual birthday- 25th April 2021.
The events include poster making competitions, painting competitions and card making competitions for the organization’s underprivileged children, street children, children with special needs and children with physical disabilities, with prizes for top 3 entries. Additionally, keeping in mind the sharp rise of Covid-19 cases and the effect curfews and lockdowns have on destitute families, special ration kit and hygiene kit distribution drives have been organized in 3 locations- Madipur village, Delhi, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand and Guwahati, Assam. The ration kits contain ample provisions to feed a family of 5 for 20 days, while the hygiene kits include all essentials to ensure the safety and well-being of the beneficiaries during this crisis. Further, a special walker and cane distribution drive will be held for 7 individuals with physical disabilities residing in Jharkhand, Jamshedpur.

On field volunteers will be ensuring that all drives are executed under strict adherence to social distancing and safety precautions.

The celebrations will culminate on the 25th of April 2021, as the organization celebrates another milestone; the third anniversary of Mann ka Tilak, the Wishes and Blessings old age home. Virtual parties have been organized at Mann ka Tilak as well as in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, where the organization feeds over 100 elderly and abandoned people. The NGO has also launched various challenges and visual content under their special hashtag ‘#SaatSaalKaSaath’ across all social media platforms.

Commenting on the milestone event, Dr. Geetanjali Chopra, Founder and President, Wishes and Blessings said, “Wishes and Blessings has grown in leaps and bounds since its inception in 2014. I could never have envisioned that we would have grown from being only Delhi-based to having a presence in 5 states across India. Although the 7th birthday celebrations are low-key due to the crisis, nevertheless we are doing all we can to spread some happiness and birthday cheer to those who are affected the most”.

“It is only with the support of our donors, supporters and volunteers that Wishes and Blessings has been able to achieve what it has thus far, and I look forward to spreading many more smiles and making many more dreams come true in the years to come,” she adds.

Wishes and Blessings

Wishes and Blessings is a registered NGO based in Delhi, with a presence in Assam, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Set up under the aegis of Dr. Geetanjali Chopra in 2014, the organization cuts across the spectrum of gender and age to help those who need it. The NGO is a unique platform to connect donors and beneficiaries, to bring together those who are blessed to help those who have unfulfilled wishes. They believe that happiness is not just an end, but a means to an end as well, and therefore do not have one focus area but 6 causes among which are education, nutrition, care for elders, relief, customizable charity and the overall cause of happiness.

News

Providing Relief to the Transgender Community

Aug 22, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #Dr. Geetanjali Chopra, #Founder and President of Wishes and Blessings

Reaching out to marginalized communities

The transgender community has been one of the worst-hit sections of society due to the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. All sources of income have been blocked and most are unable to access support being provided by the government due to lack of formal documentation and identification. While executing COVID relief in Delhi with the aid of Wishes and Blessings Relief Vans, the Wishes and Blessings team realized that there was no aid reaching the transgender community residing in Ajmeri Gate, Delhi. The team took it upon themselves to ensure that all their basic needs and requirements were met.

After fundraising and executing due diligence, a relief drive was held on 20th August. Ration and essential supplies were distributed to 100 families belonging to the transgender community to fill the gap that was created by the crisis. The President of the Delhi Chapter, (name withheld for privacy) said, “Due to the lockdown we completely lost all sources of income. We would visit weddings to give our blessings, but since that has stopped, we have nowhere to turn. We would also sustain ourselves by begging but that is no longer helping us. These past 5 months have been very difficult. Today, I am so happy. We got enough ration to sustain ourselves. Blessings to everyone who has helped us today!”

Commenting on the drive, Founder and President of Wishes and Blessings, Dr. Geetanjali Chopra said, “Wishes and Blessings believe in extending a helping hand to all communities irrespective of caste, class, age and gender. We have always laid special emphasis on reaching out to those who are marginalized including Commercial Sex Workers and members of the transgender community. While there are many organizations doing good work to reach out to those who have been impacted by the lockdown, very often these communities are left ignored. We feel blessed that we could reach out to these beneficiaries and provide them with the means to sustain themselves until they are able to resume a normal life.”

The organization aims to continue relief drives until their beneficiaries are assured of their security.

The Wishes and Blessings COVID Relief Project
Wishes and Blessings is determined to reach out to all those who have been harshly affected by the lockdown and aims to share the load with the government and other organizations working on the field and launched the Wishes and Blessings COVID Relief Project on day 1 of the lockdown itself (25th March 2020).

The organization has converted its daycare centres into shelter homes to ensure that the homeless have a safe space to stay till the lockdown is lifted. Hygiene supplies have been procured to safeguard the health of all.

A larger part of their efforts is providing nutritional aid in the form of cooked meals and ration kits. At the project’s peak, the organization served 45,000 meals/ day and distributed ration kits to over 8,000 families across 7 states- Assam, Delhi, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Tag: Dr. Geetanjali Chopra