BNP PARIBAS SENSITISATION, 29TH AUGUST 2017

Once again on August 29th, 2017 Mumbai experienced similar horrors to those of 26th July, 2005. Thousands of people were stuck in offices, schools, trains, stations and many other places. People were stranded with no means of available transport and some, without any source of food or drinking water. Amidst the many people who were stuck outside their homes, was our Toybank team.

 

This is how the story unfolded...

 

On August 29, our team had a sensitization session scheduled at the offices of BNP Paribas. The session was scheduled to start at 11 am. It started raining at around 9 am that day and by 11 am the situation had worsened. People were already struggling to reach their offices on time. Our team, with much difficulty, reached the offices by 11 but found only a few attendees present. Understanding the situation, we decided to wait for some time to let the other attendees arrive, wondering if they had decided to stay at home instead. But, we were surprised to see the attendees arrive slowly and in about 30 minutes there were around 20-25 people present in the room.
 

 

Despite the rain, we then decided to move forward with the session. Our founder Ms Shweta Chari and Communications manager were present on the scene. They found out that these attendees were dedicated to our cause. Our usual structure is that, we first give our sensitization talk and then organize a collection drive for the employees. These employees had already started with the collection drive before we even met them.

 

It was heart-warming to see such dedication from people who, until we spoke to them, knew only that we are in need of toys. Needless to say, even though it was an extremely difficult day, it was a productive one.

 

We really have no words to describe what we feel right now. This was an exceptional experience. One that we will never forget.