The Friends of Max is always happy to make new friends and this time it is with a group of Angels. Nikita who is Charita’s (FOM Volunteer) sister wanted to do a project with The Max Foundation which would be a part of her community service activity .
The Angels are a group of over sixteen ladies, friends amongst themselves , who have come together as a voluntary group and they believe in spreading joy and happiness where ever they go. Nikita visited the office one day and told us what was in her mind. She wanted to help our CML pediatric patients and give them a good time.
Planning for the event –
We at TMF drew out a list of pediatric patients who lived in and around Mumbai and contacted them. The patients were very excited and so were their siblings.We managed to get confirmations from around twenty two children. Not only were the children happy to attend, the parents also gave out their confirmations in full strength.
The event was going to take place in our MI office and with all these confirmations coming in we released all of a sudden that we would be too many people to accommodate in one single room. We realized we would have to make place in one of our other rooms for the parents and organize something equally interesting for them too. We took the liberty of having a small workshop for the parents who accompanied the children. We invited the FOM Volunteers to join us on this day. A pediatric physician from Tata Memorial Hospital was also invited to come spend the hours with us.
The Angels wanted to distribute hampers which contained food items and some commodities that could be helpful to the patients. They intended to distribute around 300 hampers to patients.
On the day of the event –
The Angels, ten charming and friendly ladies, were at our office by around 2.30 on the afternoon of the big day.. The patients along with their parents came in soon there after. Our dear friend Dr Brijesh Arora along with two colleagues also joined us well in time. A welcome speech was given to everyone that was present and then the fun and frolic for the children began. The children found themselves giggling, running, dancing, playing to the tunes of lots of famous Bollywood Music. There was a games host who brought the children closer to each other, got them to become friends forever. The interaction amongst the children was worth watching. The entertainer was loved by the children.
In the other room filled with adults the agenda was to have Dr Brijesh address the parents, share a few notes compliance and participate in the workshop we had developed on adherence and then later have a question answer session. The parents were delighted to be spending time with the physician. After the interaction with the physician we had prepared a writers work shop for the parents which would encourage and guide them to write and share their experiences. We had our FOM volunteer Kerul Patel read out his testimonial from the Book of Stories and this inspired the parents to pour their hearts out. Our MaxIndia staff was helping some of the parents to put their thoughts down on paper or translate a few words into sentences. We have gathered a few good experiences which we will be able to use for the upcoming All India Meeting Book of Stories.
The FOM Volunteers also joined in and once they were all in the office we had a small meeting to discuss the agenda for the 7th May Mumbai Regional FOM Meeting. The out comes from this meeting were very fruitful as they have become a part of the agenda for the day.
The Angels had a magician come and conduct a Magic Show for the children. The children were enjoying with great enthusiasm the festivities in the air. The day ended with the Angels providing a hamper to each patient and sibling who were present that that day.
Post event activity
The number of hampers distributed by this group was around 300 and they wanted to share it not only with the children who came on the 9th but also with the adult patients who visit the TMF Mumbai office. So it was decided that a couple of ladies from the group would come to our office and spend some time with the patients and hand over the loaded hamper to each of them. The hamper was much appreciated by all the patients. Here is a look at an email that we received from a patient upon receiving one of the hampers.
” I have received a Valuable GIFT PACK from MAX FOUNDATION on 26/04/2011, the pack includes Packet of Almond/, Packet of Date palm,/packet of Glucose/ ,Pkt of Parle G Biscuit& A beautiful Thermos flask with Best wishes from max foundation to CML Patients .Please convey our regards to the organization who sponsored such a nice & valuable gift.”. – K Ujjain M.P
Ayeshah, TMF Mumbai