Team Smile is a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) situated in Vadodara, Gujarat. We believe in terminating hunger and making food available for everyone. We are working towards providing the fundamental rights of education to every child. Fulfilling the basic needs of poverty-stricken children is also one of our central objectives.
We started team smile during the pandemic when we noticed children of 5-6 years begging in the temple of the locality. Their parents were daily wage labourers at construction sites and due to the sudden advent of covid 19, they had lost their jobs. As a result, they couldn’t even afford to earn a meal throughout the day. The whole family had to beg in order to fill their stomach since everything was dormant during the pandemic. We were very downhearted seeing this, so we began by giving a meal and educating the children of our local community. We then tried to increase our outreach by connecting people who wanted to contribute to a greater cause. We connected volunteers across Vadodara who played a very big role in educating the kids and contributing food to their families. Eventually, we increased our outreach by serving communities of different areas in Vadodara and then we set up centres around those areas and started serving them.
We are a group of Young Adults working towards turning disappointment into possibility, heartbreak into hope and creating a mystic space in the society for the people on the edge.
We started team smile on December 2020 with 5 volunteers and today, we are a team of more than 170 members from all over the world. We have successfully donated materials that are worth more than 2 lakhs. We have also completed more than 80 campaigns.
We aim to help the deprived people by providing them with better health facilities, nutrition and education.
INITIATIVES:
We have built a network throughout Gujarat by engaging our team in solving neglected issues of different communities in both rural and urban areas.
- Channelizing food to the underprivileged both in rural and urban areas to fight hunger
- Imparting quality education to the children of destitute families
- Providing food to the stray animals in towns and villages
- Distributing seasonal items like blankets for the winters and umbrellas, raincoats in the monsoon
MISSION:
For now, team smile aims to,
- End Hunger in Gujarat
- Provide quality primary education to underprivileged students
- Help people in need with survival necessities
- Improve the health and nutrition among the destitute
- Awaring students about menstrual hygiene in schools
- Spreading awareness about the importance of mental health and initiating a helpline for the people experiencing stress, anxiety, depression, panic attacks
VISION:
We intend to elevate our outreach and grow across various districts and states of India to reduce poverty and improve the lives of underprivileged people.