It was around 2 years back, when one more of my weekends just passed by watching movies and roaming around shopping malls, I started thinking about doing something else. Next stop - Google, iVolunteer and Anna. The initial response was real heartwarming, made me feel like she knew me for years. But the first year was not very productive, many personal & professional things kept me away from active work. Anna was always there, encouraging me to take my own time & do things.

The first active assignment came in for the Traffic Awareness Campaign, where one fine morning Anna called to get few Bookmarks done for the campaign. I was anyway gettin bored, sat in front of the computer for few hours and my first creative work was out. Later Anna called and appreciated the whole thing, Oh man, it was a great feeling! I was really thrilled when I saw it printed. This was the first printed piece of work by me. The whole campaign was a great success, and I was there making placards, managing the stall, coordinating with others... one of the best volunteer work I ever did.

Next challenge was to get posters done for our "Donate a Book” Campaign. The credits go to Balaji who helped with the creative inputs and ideas for visuals. Posters were out in a few days, decorating notice boards of many Bangalore MNCs. And the response was awesome, we had a great run.

I believe the USP of iVolunteer lies in identifying each one’s skills and giving them appropriate challenges. And the motivation from Anna & other members are tremendous. You are never forced on anything, hence the basic principle of Volunteerism is observed to the core. Plus it gives you a great opportunity to meet a whole bunch of people and develop your other skills. What I have seriously felt is, it gives you a positive direction to your life and our thinking levels are expanded. You start seeing the world from a wider & better angle. It also encourages us to take up similar initiatives at office also.

The best thing is you come to face the fact that this not about changing the whole world in a single day. It’s all about taking steps, even small, which leads to a better world.