November 01: Child Help Foundation (CHF) is a Pan-India, non-profit organization which aims to uplift the underprivileged and weaker sections of society. Founded in the year 2010, Child Help Foundation is nationally recognized for its efforts to inspire and empower people into the culture of giving and bringing about a positive change in the lives of children and society at large.

Founded by Mr. Sunil Varghese, Rajendra Pathak and Jugender Singh, Child Help Foundation has implemented projects in 21 states across the country. Emergency Medical Support is the flagship program of the organization. To date, CHF has supported medical treatment costs of 1,631 children from underprivileged families, out of whom 549 were suffering from Cancer and 172 children were suffering from Congenital Heart Diseases.

Apart from the main program, they also have parallel programs running to tackle various other social issues such as Education, Water and Sanitation, Gender Equality, Zero Hunger, Humanitarian Relief, Life on Land and Life Below Water.

Talking about Child Help Foundation and its initiatives, Spokesperson and CEO of Child Help Foundation (CHF), Mr Shaji Varghese, said, “Welfare of Underprivileged Children being the core focus of our organization, we work at the grass-root level where the underprivileged parents of children suffering from life-threatening diseases approach CHF seeking help for their child’s treatment. To give them all possible medical support, CHF has tie-ups with India’s top hospitals across the country like Tata Memorial, Hinduja, Kokilaben D. Ambani, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, All India Medical Science (AIIMS), SBM and C K Birla Hospital.

CHF works in accordance with the sustainable development goals (SDGs) laid down by the United Nations. CHF has programs covering SDG2, SDG3, SDG4, SDG5, SDG6, SDG14, SDG15 and SDG17.

CHF has a network of volunteers along with partner NGOs who have been actively providing necessary interventions. Even at the peak of the pandemic, we have provided essential services wherever required. The team identified various underprivileged communities through personal visits by volunteers and references from partner NGOs to extend help and support. “He further added.

To talk more about their significant work for the education of these children, CHF has provided support to children in schools across various states in the country. They have made efforts in promoting inclusive quality education for children from urban, rural and tribal communities through the Scholarship and Advocacy Program, which has benefitted 4,64,216 children across the country.

Under their Water and Sanitation (WAS) initiative, CHF has facilitated the construction of 72 toilets across India. They have provided water purifiers to 23 government schools in multiple districts throughout various states and distributed 3,00,000 sanitary napkins to 34,672 girls all over the country.

Under their Zero Hunger program has started an initiative to tackle malnutrition and create Zero Hunger by feeding warm meals to 1,800 beneficiaries daily. With these interventions, there has been a significant improvement in the health of the beneficiaries.

Through their Gender Equality programs which aim to provide equal opportunities to boys and girls. In 2019- 2020, CHF reached more than 2,00,000 beneficiaries through the Gender Equality program.

Under the Humanitarian Relief program, CHF has reached out to 10,31,763 affected people from natural calamities to provide them with necessary help and relief. Thousands of them have been rehabilitated to a safer environment.

Their Life on Land program takes care of lakhs of stray animals suffering from undernourishment. CHF has been successful in providing food to 54,472 stray animals to date.

The Life Below Water program has been at the forefront to collect and remove 1,85,960 kilograms of garbage and other debris from the beaches of Gorai, Manori, Velankanni, and Juhu. CHF has helped save 1,50,000 marine species to date.

For their honest effort and initiatives, CHF has been endorsed by many well-known celebrities like Adeline Castelino, Alia Bhatt, Faye D’souza, Kunal Kapoor, Shiv Aroor and many more. CHF has also been appreciated by reputed organizations and government bodies like Tata Memorial Center and Medical Cell of Chief Minister Secretariat – Mantralaya, Mumbai, respectively.