Ever since the pandemic has reached Uttarakhand, the founder of Dehradun-based NGO Just Open Yourself (JOY), Jai Sharma has been working tirelessly to help the needy and has now commenced his initiative of adopting 100 children who lost both their parents to the deadly COVID-19 virus.
Speaking about the adoption drive, the Founder of JOY, Jai Sharma, said, “When the second wave of COVID-19 started, we encountered five such families in the initial two weeks where both the parents had died, and the child/children were left alone at home. A few of these children were of classes 4th-5th age group, one was in 12th, and the rest were small in age. At that moment, it hit our mind that this unfortunate scenario is inevitable, and we were to come across more such cases as the pandemic rose.”
Adding further, he said, “To date, we have adopted 20 orphaned children under JOY and are taking care of their food, medicine, and finances, among other important aspects. Out of these 20 children, only two are from Dehradun, and the rest belong to the hills. Within a week, we will be completing our target of adopting 50 children, followed by 100 children eventually. I, Jai Sharma from JOY, am there to support these children by any means possible, till the time they become self-sufficient!”
The team of JOY is reaching out to various villages in the hills of Uttarakhand. The Gram Pradhaans of these villages are in constant touch with JOY members, wherein the former will inform if any child/children get or is orphaned due to the pandemic.
The NGO has been procuring and distributing 24×7 Oxygen Cylinders free of cost as medical supplies with no refilling and security charges. The team also distributed COVID medical kits, sanitization kits (included sanitary pads, sanitizers, masks, soaps) along with other medical equipment to ones in need.
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