Announcement of 7th Edition of Daan Utsav - The Joy of Giving Week 2015

7th Edition of Daan Utsav-The Joy of Giving Week 2015, Hyderabad Announced

Daan Utsav, A new identity, India's Largest Festival of Giving, Commences on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanthi from October 2nd to 8th,
Hyderabad, Sept. 2nd 2015: The launch of Daan Utsav - The Joy of Giving Week 2015, a pan - India "Festival of Giving", from October 2ndto 8th, was announced today. The Daan Utsav endeavors to inspire Indians across every state, city, region, class, religion and age to give back to society. It not only aims at encouraging people to give but also celebrates the notion of giving and the joy derived from it.

Launched in 2009 as a "Festival of Giving" across India, the Joy of Giving Week has brought together people from all walks of life. The Daan Utsav Week is wholly driven by a large group of volunteers from all over the country.
"Joy Of Giving Week" India's own festival will now be known as "Daan Utsav", a name that is easily understood across India, from down South to North & from East to West. Several cities and villages across the country have started planning their participation in the festival in various forms.

Speaking at the event, Shri Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, IT Secretary, Govt, of Telangana said- "I have been supporting 'Daan Utsav'from its first year i.e. 2009, when it was known as Joy of Giving Week. We have witnessed it grow year after year. The Government of Telengana and the IT Dept, fully support the biggest Festival of Giving in India. All IT companies, enthusiastically participate in the various events during Daan Utsav and make substantial contributions, striving to make our society more equitable. I request all the citizens, to participate in Daan Utsav".

"Daan Utsav-1 think each of us has our own reasons to give. Some give because they don't need stuff anymore, some give because they are just generous and selfless and yet others give because it just gives them a pride of doing something, a selfish joy. I am of the 1st & 3rd kind, I am in no way generous but I truly enjoy the smiles people have when given something unexpectedly and the great sense of satisfaction I feel. Whatever the reason for your giving. Let's celebrate giving!!! Daan Utsav- The Joy of giving said Mr. Vijay Deverakonda - Actor, YevadeSubramanyam.

A giving event could be Give "Jaadu ki Jhappi" to a sweeper and thank him for his work, Take some Street Kids on a "Joy Ride" in a car or Taxi, Sponsor a Move Ticket for someone who can't afford it, Talk to a homeless person, Give them a meal or pair of Chappals, clean a nearby park with a group of volunteers, cook and distribute food to the homeless, raise money or awareness for a cause, or organise a chain of events in your apartment, office, school or college added Mr. Vardhaman Jain, Volunteer, Daan Utsav and requested everyone to plan their participation and Register at www.daanutsav.org at the earliest.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Sharad Datta, General Manager, Hyderabad Marriott Hotel & Convention Centre & Courtyard by Marriott Hyderabad says "We are delighted to partner with Daan Utsav for the fifth consecutive year. One of the strongest pillars of the Marriott is the philosophy of'Spirit to Serve' to help uplift the society or the community that we work in and this is deeply entrenched in our efforts at the Hyderabad Marriott Hotel & Convention Centre and Courtyard by Marriott Hyderabad. Throughout the year we engage in helping the society through our initiatives that over the years have become very dear to us. One such initiative is our support for Daan Utsav, this year as we observe the week of giving, we will do our bit to help the society"

We're extremely happy to see the large participation in the celebration of the Daan Utsav. We're sure that in the coming few years this will be the largest Festival of Giving", said K N Chandrashekaran, volunteer, Daan Utsav. He also elaborated on how corporates, 5 star hotels, colleges, schools, apartment complexes, local businesses, government institutions, villages and individuals have extended their support towards Daan Utsav.

Details of the events are available at Daan Utsav Website with many more events happening around India.
Various CEOs from big corporates, and celebrities like Narayana Murthy, Kumar Birla, Adi Godrej, Sachin Tendulkar and Amitabh Bachchan as also citizens with humble professions and school children are already a part of this festival. They have contributed through various acts of giving. Over 3 million* Indians participated in the Week last year and this year the hope is to exceed that number.
Daan Utsav volunteers also invited the public to spread the message of giving and register their acts of giving on the www.daanutsav.org website.

About Daan Utsav
The DaanUtsav is a 'Festival of giving' launched in 2009. The festival is celebrated every year, in the week including Gandhi Jayanthi, i.e., October 2-8, and brings together Indians from all walks of life, to celebrate "giving".

From auto drivers to CEOs, school children to celebrities, homemakers to opinion leaders, millions of people give their time, money, resources or skills back to society- by creating or participating in "events" of their choice. A giving event could be as simple as a family taking out the maid's children for an ice-cream party, or as large as Gift Compassion that had 10,000+ school children across Hyderabad making and exchanging gifts with their peers from different socio-economic backgrounds.

Events are organised by individuals, social groups, schools, colleges, NGOs, corporate, media houses and others. 3 million+ people participated in 900+ events across 70+ cities in JGW2014, raising over Rs 30 crores in money and resources donated, and millions of volunteer hours.

No one owns the Joy of Giving Week. It is designed as a festival of giving, and like Diwali or Christmas or Ramzan, the plan is for it to eventually have no owners! However, in the initial formative years, to give it a sense of shape, a group of core volunteers manages the JGW campaign, defines guidelines for participation and evangelises the effort.