The year 2009 was successful in implementing the local actions all through India. Some of the innovative and successful local actions were:

Catering to special needs differently
 
Action for Autism (AFA) based in Delhi is doing a yeoman’s service to the society by catering to the special needs of children suffering from ‘Autism’- a life long brain disorder that is normally diagnosed in early childhood.
 
AFA organised the annual Summer Camp for children with special needs in its premises at Sarita Vihar during the summer break of school going children from 11th May – 6th June’09. A wide spectrum of activities are in offer for the children and their parents to choose from ranging from Music, Art, Pottery, Pool Play, Games, Dance, Outings and Cooking targetting to boost the confidence of children and encourage them to lead a life of order.
 
Children with special needs have benefited immensely through these camps over the years so much so that word of mouth publicity about the camp this year witnessed several individuals capable of making a difference joining hands with AFA to mobilise funds. Going a step further, Smile has pitched in by matching the net funds raised to augment the quality and impact.

Film screening to fund underprivileged’s education

INOX, a renowned multiplex of Goa screened 2 special film shows of Abhishek Bacchan starrer ‘Delhi 6’ on 19th Feb’09 to mobilise funds for a local non-profit, Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust that is running a residential school for marginalised street children called ‘Hamara School’.

Around 700 privileged members of Goa city bought the tickets for those special shows. Local media provided the desired support by carrying advertisements in their publications for a period of 1 week before the actual date of screening. The funds mobilised through the screening of special shows by INOX were matched by Smile Foundation to strengthen the project.

T-20 to make a difference

Cricket - a popular sport in India was used effectively by ‘Samvedana’ as a medium to bring corporates of Ahmedabad together for the cause of underprivileged children. Samvedana, an Ahmedabad based non-profit providing non formal education to underprivileged organised a corporate cricket tournament in T-20 format from 21st Feb to 7th March’09. Teams from various corporates of Ahmedabad participated in the tournament donating a pre-decided amount as participation fees to support the education of underprivileged children.
Banners depicting the child related issues were displayed around the ground for all the 15 days of tournament. Around 3000 spectators witnessed the matches between various corporates. Vodafone team won and they received the winner’s trophy by Mr. Parthiv Patel, a former Indian cricketer.
Award ceremony was followed by a gala dinner for 350 corporates of Ahmedabad along with the children of Samvedana.