A mission that brings a little smile... and hope
is our way of giving back to society

BitWise Foundation organized a blood donation camp on 15th July 2011. The camp was organized in association with ‘Anandrhishiji Pune Blood Bank’. This is part of Bitwise Corporate Social Responsibility program. The camp was organized in both the facilities of BitWise and was run by professional doctors from Anandrhisiji Pune Blood bank. 123 employees enthusiastically donated the blood. Many of them were first time donors. Each donor was provided a Donor certificate which will entitle the donor and family to receive free blood units from the blood bank. This Blood Donation drive was definitely different. This drive not only had people coming and donating the blood but also there were people who inspired the other people to come forward to donate. There were many volunteers who told about importance of Blood Donation to their team members and increased the awareness. Another special thing which is noteworthy of mentioning was to see few of our housekeeping staff, security guards (some of whome are on contract) and several office boys donating on the occasion. Many educated people do not come forward but these people though with very less education came forward and set an ideal example for all of us. Kudos to those who took part and also to all the volunteers. You do make a difference!!!

So beautiful are childhood days..! Childhood… a time when dad was only the hero.. When love was Mom’s hug… When dad’s shoulder was highest place on the earth… When our worst enemies were siblings…When the only thing that could hurt was wounded knees… When friends used you for nothing other than borrowing pencil...When good-bye meant only for tomorrow...When the only things broken were Toys... So many emotions were attached to toys. But we knew a broken toy would be replaced by another big toy. All the children are not lucky enough. Just wonder parents who even could not afford food, how would afford toys for their children. Fully realizing the potential of the impact of toys and the need for children to learn and grow with the experience of toys, BitWise Foundation partnered with Toybank to organize a TOY COLLECTION DRIVE. The toy collection campaign ran from 25th April to 4th May in all the 3 facilities of BitWise. Toy Collections boxes were placed near security at all the 3 facilities of BitWise. This was the time when all the Bitwisers came together as family and share aloha in true spirit. We are very glad to let you know that we collected 340 toys in this campaign. On 9th May 2011 BitWise Foundation volunteers came together, segregated according to age groups and wrapped all the 340 toys with newspaper. We would like to thank each and every donor and volunteer for your generosity. The toy collection drive has been extremely successful and it was so much fun doing it. Just waiting till the toys reach the tiny hands… Related Links:- http://blog.toybank.org/2011/06/toy-collection-drive-at-bitwise.html

Door Step School is an NGO which provides education and support to the often-forgotten children of pavement dwellers, slum dwellers, construction site families and many other underprivileged families. Along with the routine education program. Door Step school organizes picnic for their children every year. This year BitWise Foundation sponsored the Picnic for more than 650 children. Door Step School used different ways to control the cost e.g. the snacks were prepared by their staff, they used their own vehicles and made multiple trips to the venue. All the four Sundays and two Saturdays in the month of December were used for taking children to different locations, mostly the Pune Municipal Corporation Gardens in the nearby area. Children are located in the 9 clusters with 90 locations with a considerable geographical spread and hence this arrangement suited the best.

Spandhan Care Centre” is an old age home for bed ridden patients. To help the center in taking care of these patients BitWise Foundation sponsored few of their basic needs by donating Water Beds, Bed pans ,folding Commode and a Water purifier. We are thankful to all our Donors and Volunteers for their active participation in helping the Foundation in achieving the above milestones.

It is often said that 'Childhood is the most beautiful of all life's seasons'. Unfortunately all children are not fortunate enough to enjoy this best season of their life. We see children working at various places like tea stalls, shops and even find them on streets and traffic signals and the thought of helping them in some or the other manner definitely runs though our minds. Encouraged by the same thought BitWise Foundation organized Children Books and Toys collection drive in the first week of August and got an overwhelming response from the BitWise Employees. We collected 75 English and Marathi books and 63 Toys/Game sets. All the collected items were distributed among three NGO’s. They are Swadhar Vachnaly, Akanksha Foundation and Bal Kalyan Sanstha. These organizations deal with the education of less privileged & physically challenged children. We would like to mention a special gesture shown by one of our project teams. This Team including few of its Ex-Team members decided to use the amount contributed for the Birthday Gifts and Treat of the team members. They used the amount collected in last three months to buy new books and games and donated to BitWise Foundation. BitWise foundation is thankful to all employees for their generous contribution and making this drive a success. If you wish to contribute in such activities which can touch the lives of those who are less privileged by way of donations - monthly, quarterly, annually or even one time to BitWise Foundation or would like to join the Foundation as a Volunteer, please contact us at bfcomm@bitwiseglobal.com.

School Kit Donation Drive is organized every year by a group called Seva Sahayog in Pune. The School Kit Drive aims to gift School Kits to school-children from economically weaker sections of the society. The kit contains 1 School bag, 10 notebooks, Pen, Pencil, and a Compass box. The kits are distributed to children from slums, schools, and education-support-centers run by NGOs in and around Pune. As a part of this, benevolent and generous activity ,BitWise Foundation responded enthusiastically by donating Rs 12,000 for this noble cause.

A World Health Organization study reveals that every year 1,32,082 women are diagnosed with Cervical Cancer and 74,118 die from the disease. The growing risk of cervical cancer in women in India (aged 0-64 years) is 2.4% compared to 1.3% for the world. It is shocking to know that around 10 women die of cervical cancer every hour in south-east Asia and eight of them are from India. Pap screenings which detect the cancer at a very early stage is one of the ways which can be used to reduce these deaths. On the occasion of Women’s Day, BitWise Foundation in association with Dr. Patankar Medical Foundation organized a ‘Woman Gynecological Wellness camp’ for the Teacher's at Doorstep School. Door Step school is a NGO, with whom BitWise Foundation has worked in the past on various initiatives. Door Step school aims to address literacy amongst the marginalized sections of society. The school provides education and support to the dwellers, slum dwellers, construction site families and many other underprivileged families. They need staff including teachers, supervisors and coordinators to work on these initiatives. This staff is typically from poor and traditional families. They mostly work for financial support for their family. The ‘Woman Gynecological Wellness camp’ was held for about 45 teachers of Door Step School on 20th March, 2010 between 2 PM to 4 PM at Dr. Patankar Nursing Home. Along with the Pap Tests the camp included routine tests like Weight check, B. P. Check, Blood Sugar Check , hemoglobin along with initial consultation.

“How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the starving & tolerant of the weak & strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these. – George Washington.” The BitWise Foundation volunteers visited Centre for Special Education (CSE) on 21st December ’09. CSE is dedicated to understanding and promoting the knowledge needed to improve the ability of learners with disabilities. Children of single as well as multiple disabilities get proper care and nurture through well qualified faculty. The children required specially cooked food and the school had requested us to give them the necessary ingredients and the food was cooked by the in- house cook. While the lunch was getting cooked, we visited all the classes, the physiotherapy room, the music room etc. The visit to the physiotherapy room was certainly an eye opener. It revealed to us how difficult it was for most of the children to do simple things like walking, climbing and even sitting on their own. The most disturbing sight was to see some children tied to the chair with belt, as otherwise they will fall off. The physiotherapist and all the teachers were very patient with the kids. Some of the children were very excited to see us and greeted us with broad smiles, some were shy and few were uncomfortable with visitors. Few of them entertained us by singing songs and others performed various dances for us. It was an overwhelming experience. We were also surprised to see them performing so well. Other than the Music Teacher, sponsored by BitWise Foundation, the school also has arts, crafts and exercise sessions. On this occasion we also donated weight cuffs to the school, which will be used in physiotherapy sessions. “No matter what our age, background, gender or ability, we can be a valuable resource to demonstrate the universal language of love, compassion & make a difference to children’s lives.”