and we thank....

The second chapter of the Joy of Giving Week begins tomorrow and signs of the festival surpassing last years collection and participation are already visible. 296 registered events at the time of writing this. It brings us joy ! But none of this would have been possible without the wholehearted and voluntary participation of thousands of both well known and anonymous men, women and children, not just in India, but outside the borders of our country as well. The coming weeks will give us a clearer idea about the numbers participating and the resources collected and the innovative manner in which the week has been celebrated, but even as we are all set to usher in the week, we take a moment off to give thanks to.....

the many celebrities who have taken time off from their busy schedules to make time to promote, participate and contribute to the JGW. Tendulkar, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Shriya, Adi Godrej, Amit Chandra, Anurag Kashyap.... to name just a few

the media, which has been covering the week extensively for a couple of weeks featuring on its pages, this story of positive change that comes across as a ray of hope amongst all the negative stories that are on the front pages of our newspapers or are headlines on our television screens.

the State Bank of India for carrying on all its 22,000 ATMs, the message of the Joy of Giving Week.

the many faces across the length and breadth of the country, from the school children in places like Nagaland, the corporate honcho in a metro, the college student in small towns, the concerned senior citizen, the homemaker, the office goer, the government official, the man on the street, all of whom have embraced the JGW as their personal festival, thus enabling us to make this a common vision, for the JGW has been visualised as a festival where every Indian from a 'billionaire to a paanwallah' can participate

above all, thanks are due to the many volunteers of the JGW team who have been working in visible and invisible ways for months to ensure that the message of this festival reaches as many as possible and that those who desire to participate are enabled to do so. It is their motivation, single minded determination, the shared vision, the time devoted to carrying this message of hope to as many as possible by making time for it in their otherwise busy schedules, that has contributed to a large extent to the success of this festival.

Thank you to all and may the Joy of Giving Week bring us all great joy. Join, participate and celebrate the JGW with humility and abundance.