Youngistaan Foundation Recognizes Volunteers With Awards

Hyderabad: Youngistaan Foundation held its annual 2021-22 Volunteers’ Meet on Sunday night to honour and celebrate the volunteers of the organization, who contributed through volunteering in multiple programs across India to transform the lives of people from underserved communities. The volunteers were given awards for their contribution throughout the year and also had an interactive time of bonding, volunteer testimonies, impact stores and lots of food.

The annual meet highlighted the work of its volunteers, who come from various backgrounds such as college students, school students, employees from IT companies and more. The volunteers have been involved in Youngistaan Foundation’s 7 active programs connected to 6 UN SDGs. Some examples of these programs are the Cyber Congress project with Women Saftey Wing, Innovation Program Volunteer, Climate Action Program Volunteer, ‘We Volunteer’ initiative partnered with UNICEF and the work during the devastating second wave and the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that conducted outreaches to transgender women, sanitation workers, children in Government schools and more in across 60 cities.

As part of the event this year, the organization awarded Dheera K as the Gender Program Volunteer of the Year, Pavan the Animal Heroes Program Volunteer of the Year Award, and Nikitha Devi as the overall Volunteer of the Year Award. Apart from that, all the volunteers who contributed to the organization over 7 months were awarded medals.

The volunteers who gathered for the Annual Meet were given the platform to share the impact of their work during 2021 and their experience in volunteering, with others. One of the active volunteers, Pavan A, said, “I always used to think that there are others to help people in need whenever I saw anyone in need of help, after joining Youngistaan I realized that I can help people, and my five seconds of contribution can change and impact lives too. I also met many like-minded people in the organization who help me to help people.”

Another Volunteer, Shalini Chandrashekar, said, “Every interaction as part of my Menstrual Hygiene session and awareness on Child Safety among children makes me realize how many lives I am impacting and touching through volunteering for few hours. The reactions and stories that I hear from children are very emotional.”

Explaining her volunteer experience, Vijaya Shree, who volunteered for the COVID second wave, said “I always was very shy and a big introvert, I could never talk to anyone, but in the second wave I saw many people dying and needed support, so I started helping with online calls and data entry, now I have connected with so many like-minded people and I look forward to helping more people through this journey.”

It was also an opportunity for the leadership of the Youngistaan Foundation to highlight the contribution of the volunteers and present awards for exceptional effort and impact.

Arun Daniel Yellamaty, Youngistaan Foundation Founder and Director, said, “In the last eight years we have engaged over 70,000 volunteers across the country and the majority of them in Telangana. Most of the volunteers stay with us for many years and evolve into amazing change-makers. We have seen volunteers joining us in depression and overcoming their mental health through their volunteering journey. We are glad to give this platform for young people to use their time and energy and give back to the community in need. “