Bengaluru: For most young people planning a weekend means having a ‘good time’ hanging out with friends and family members or movies or reading a book. Many look forward to weekends and somehow endure their weekdays.
But the NGO ‘Volunteer for A Cause’ (VFC), comprising a young team, has been taking up a particular cause every weekend and has now been doing it for nearly six years.
Founded in 2012, VFC provides a platform to volunteers willing to contribute in the area of their interest. It is currently working on 17 different causes, where anyone can choose to volunteer and contribute their share to the society.
Over the weekends, VFC volunteers gather and visit places such as children’s home, old age home, schools for special children, animal shelters and many do volunteer.
VFC founder Surendran Krishnan told Deccan Chronicle, "Most of the people plan their weekends to spend time with their families. But VFC members take a few hours of our every weekend time to help some needy people in the city, because the experience we earn from working for a cause is more than anything. A small child’s smile, love and affection; a blessing from the elderly person; a new friendship; a new travel opportunity; probably a new work opportunity, which allows you to pursue your passion, and so on."
VFC has dedicated its time in numerous activities. They include celebrating a birthday of a child at a children’s home, writing exams for the visually impaired, conducting activities at old age homes and schools for intellectually challenged children and children’s home.
Other activities taken up by VFC includes feeding and bathing dogs at a pet shelter or being a part of an awareness session on matters such as first aid, road safety, voter awareness, mental health awareness and many more.
"It is just to help people of Bengaluru to volunteer in the field that they are interested in. The members in VFC family are all working professional from different fields, so every week we have at-least three volunteer programmes and minimum 20 volunteers will be presented. Our aim is for the country’s citizens to come forward and lead the social and national developmental change without waiting for the government and simultaneously pushing the government to work for the betterment of the people.”
Over the years, the team of 20 members, drawn from different professions including IT industry, teaching, sociologists, advocates and social workers have been involved in various verticals for an effective result.
VFC now has 6,000 plus volunteers and so far conducted 1000 plus volunteer programmes on different causes in past six years and benefited more than 15,000 lives in the city.
Currently, their operations are based mainly in Bengaluru and in some parts of Delhi. VFC is trying to expand its reach over to Hyderabad and Chennai.
“To feel alive, to feel the warmth, to feel the oneness and to give back to the community we live in. VFC is the best place for such people, because this is a platform where many people work for a common goal. VFC teaches people to work close to reality,” Saranya Suresh, a VFC volunteer told Deccan Chronicle.
