Great Lakes Awarded by CII-Young Indians

It gives the community at Great Lakes immense pleasure to inform you that we are closing this year’s account with CII-Young Indians(YI) on an extraordinarily positive note. Here is what happened a few hours before:

1. Great Lakes awarded the “Best college” in Chennai chapter. Achieving this feat right in the first year(this is the first year of our association with CII) was just remarkable…

2. R. Athmanathan  was awarded “Best Student” in Chennai chapter.

SoHere are details of Great Lakes’s contribution towards organising the following events in conjunction with CII-Young Indians

SUMMARY OF YI/CSR EVENTS

1	Blood Donation @ Great Lakes	May 26, 2007	This camp was organised in association with the Lions club of chennai. More than 60 people turned up for the event and 52 of them were able to donate their blood. The event was organised in the campus only by arranging for a fully equipped van for blood donation.
2	EcoMagination contest – Young Indians Event	August 6, 2007	This was the first event to kick off the association with CII and hence was very vital for the relationship with CII. We rose up to the occasion and did a splendid job and hence were able to become one of the most active colleges in chennai region. The objective of Ecomagination competition for school students was to create awareness and encourage students to think about conservation and sustainability measures that can be incorporated within their school/community for a better tomorrow. Competition Topic “How to make your school campus environment friendly and energy efficient?” Students were  required to come up with effective and innovative ideas that can be easily implemented within their own school campus to make it green. The winning school received a grant for Rs. 5,00,000/- (Rupees Five Lakhs) towards the implementation of the various green ideas suggested by them in their own school campus. YI members promoted the event across a hundred schools in chennai. The effort did pay off. It helped Great Lakes establish a strong relationship with CII.
3	Citizen’s run	September 30, 2007	Great Lakers were a part of a marathon which was for a special cause. This marathon called the ‘Citizens’ run’ was organised collectively by NGOs in chennai. The funds generated from this event were distributed amongst the participating NGOs. CII was the organising partner and Great Lakes is proud to have been associated with such an event. DETAILS: Young Indians (Yi) for the 2nd year joined hands with Citizens Run Trust to conduct the 10th Citizens Run’ on Sunday, 30th September, 2007. The Citizens” Run Trust has consciously sought to empower those organizations and individuals engaged in social welfare work, who lack the resources for a significant presentation of their work to a larger society. Many dedicated groups are unable to tap into the charitable impulses of ordinary people and donors merely because they cannot articulate their achievements in appropriate method. Such groups are in dire need of support in the form of both, resources and recognition as encouragement of their work. Little known NGOs and initiatives working to better the lives of people in various ways are sought out and supported through the Citizens Run Trust. This Citizens Run Trust has so far helped 38 NGOs and has distributed Rs.52,65,928/- till date. The idea of the Citizens’ Run was born with the hope of getting both young and old, the expensively shod and the barefoot runner to put their energy and money into a meaningful contribution to society at large. The Citizens’ Run Trust has been organizing a cross city run every year since 1996 in which people from different milieus in Chennai participate. The clearly expressed aim of the Run is to gain awareness and support for small voluntary non-government organizations actively engaged in quality work for the welfare of the socially, economically and physically disadvantaged. Great Lakes, with its participation in the event, has proved that it is always ready for any contribution towards the society.
4	Young Indians Summit – GOA	October 31, 2007	This was the first annual conference of CII-YI students Net. We did rule the show there as well. It started off with some sessions on management and ended with an awarenes session on AIDS by an eminent doctor from Mumbai. We managed to get permission to screen our documentary on Right to Information Act in front of an audience which consisted of CII members and students from MDI Gurgaon, MICA Ahmedabad, NMIMS Mumbai, CBS Chennai and many others. The documentary was applauded by all in the audience as they realised the importance of this act called RTI. We met some important people which included vice presidents of some major firms as well as former chiefs of CII. All in all, it was a great branding opportunity for Great Lakes.
5	Sale of RASA products at YALE Conference		The yale conference attracts the best of talent in the research fraternity. CSR club used this platform  to sell the products made by ‘differently abled’ people from an NGO called RASA(Ramana Sunritya aalaya). The even was a huge success with almost 80% of the items sold off. People felt a sense of purpose when they bought these special products made by RASA. Great Lakers,too, contrbuted to this noble cause.
6	Know India Program – In Association with ministry of overseas affairs – Panel Discussion	December 24, 2007	We put up a wonderful show at the panel discussion on ‘India’ organized by CII. The discussion had 35 students from countries across the globe including US, Canada, African countries, Israel, Italy and many more. We(Four of us from Great Lakes) were the only ones who were representing India. CII was impressed with our performance and invited us to a rural tamilnadu tour along with the delegates. This has reinforced our relationship with CII. This was a very valuable experience in the sense that such diversity of cultures would be very difficult to come across. Also, these students, who were all of Indian origin, were very impressed with our role in the whole scheme of things. In fact, some of them are still in touch with us. One more feather to our cap….
7	Rural Induction program for People of Indian Origin – KIP	December 30, 2007	This was an extension of the panel discussion held a week earlier. In fact, we were invited for this session primarily because of our peformance in the panel discussion. It was a great experience and certainly a once in a lifetime opportunity to mingle with such a diverse crowd. Just to give a background, these guys(All from Indian origin, but most of them have never been to India) are here as part of ‘Know India Program’ organized by Ministry of Overseas affairs in association with NYKS and CII-YI. We, at YI, would be working on building a sustainable business model by integrating NYKS n YI for rural development. Here is what we did: – Induction on the Indian political system i.e. the panchayats, MLAs etc – Moderating a group discussion(students, panchayat members n self help group women) on Youth empowerment to narrow the rural urban divide. Got some wonderful solutions. Solutions ranging from agriculture co-op societies, selling value added products(say idli or upma instead of rice), village adoption by urban university students, youth panchayat etc were discussed. Other topics were women empowerment, Democracy. n Field trip to villages near Cheyyur – focus areas being agriculture, education, traditional occupations n why youth is not ready to carry them forward, art, spirituality n religion, healthcare etc. Got some new insights from the way these guys think. Learning Points: –People from outside the system can give some valuable inputs based on their experiences. –What makes a difference is the attitude. Example: All the while during the discussion, the panchayat members were cynical of all the solutions given by the students. The only response used to be ‘cannot be done’. –Whereas the students used to say ‘everything is possible’. –Even though they may not know much about India, the students still relate to the Indian culture. Stick to the basics. –At one point of time they even accepted that they are ABCDs(American born confused desis). Accept reality.
8	Movie – Inconvenient Truth for YI members	January 19, 2008	An Ice Breaker for Young Indians at Four Frames theatre.
9	Tamilnadu Vision 2025 – Conference In association with pricewaterhouse coopers	February 7, 2008	A panel discussion organised by CII but with the help of pricewaterhouse coopers. A good discussion and again we prove a point.
10	Young Indians Summit – Chennai	February 16, 2008	The annual summit of Young Indians was held in Chennai this year. The net(Students) Summit was held in Goa last year. Young Indians contributed towards a presentation and logistics of the event. The event was chaired by Mr. Kamath from ICICI Bank. Our Presentation was one of the best and was appreciated by CII.

jsj