Jai Sharma, a social worker from Dehradun and founder of Just Open Yourself (JOY) and NGO based in the same area, has revealed that he will adopt 100 children who have been orphaned during the pandemic.
The Facebook post of the NGO's official page says that the adoption drive has commenced and that 100 children will be adopted apart from the 20 that are already under their care.
Founder Jai Sharma said, "When the second wave of COVID-19 started, we encountered five such families in the initial two weeks where both the parents had died, and the child/children were left alone at home. A few of these children were of classes 4th-5th age group, one was in 12th, and the rest were small in age. At that moment, it hit our mind that this unfortunate scenario is inevitable, and we were to come across more such cases as the pandemic rose."
The aim is to care for these children until they become self-sufficient, said Jai. He also spoke about the 20 children they were already caring for and said, "Under JOY and are taking care of their food, medicine, and finances, among other important aspects. Out of these 20 children, only two are from Dehradun, and the rest belong to the hills. Within a week, we will be completing our target of adopting 50 children, followed by 100 children eventually."
Sharma's JOY has been working continuously during the pandemic to help as much as possible. Right from free oxygen cylinders to medicines and medical kits, the NGO has put its best foot forward for the country's COVID-19 response. Amidst this, a step to adopt 100 orphaned children comes as a great news. More and more children are losing both their parents every day owing to the pandemic, with no one to support them or look after them.
It is great to know that people like Sharma and NGOs like JOY have their backs.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)