Providing scholarships to deserving candidates is only the beginning. To truly empower them, we must go further—upskilling them to make them employable, mentoring and grooming them to become future leaders. This approach creates a sustainable model for social work, allowing the cycle of education to continue for future generations. It ensures that every rupee from our donors and every minute of our volunteers is used to its fullest potential.
To achieve this, we offer both technical and soft skills training through online and offline platforms. Each student is paired with a mentor who has subject matter expertise, giving them invaluable industrial exposure and preparing them for the job market. Additionally, we encourage students to volunteer regularly, as this experience helps them develop digital literacy, teamwork, accountability, time management, and more.
We’ve established volunteering teams based on students’ academic streams to foster collaboration and team spirit. For instance, commerce students aspiring to become auditors are placed in our internal auditing team, gaining hands-on experience in auditing for a large NGO like ours. Similarly, students interested in web development or data science are grouped in teams that manage relevant aspects of our organization, such as volunteer care or the Gurukulam online training program. This way, students collaborate with like-minded peers, stay motivated, and build a community around their academic and professional aspirations.
Recently, we completed the selection process for our next batch of students. Over a period of three months, with the support of 20+ volunteers and 200+ hours of effort, we selected 40+ students from an initial pool of over 500 applicants, following thorough background checks. Every student has a compelling story that has earned them our support. Especially a girl child who lost her parents in a road accident, and became a child labor since her school days to support her sick grand-mom is now one of the champs in the selected list. In our interview process, she mentioned boldly,”Sir you can provide me with a scholarship, if you feel My scores are merit enough to get it. I believe they are. But don’t help me only out of mercy, because self-respect is more important for me. I need recognition for my journey, not just mercy for my painful past.”
Our goal now is to help these new students align with our vision and mission, understand the upskilling and volunteering opportunities at Gold Heart Foundation (GHF), and integrate smoothly into our teams. To that end, we organized a two-day induction program at EverWin Vidyashram, Kulathur, Chennai, with the support of various guests and sponsors.
Day 1 Highlights:
We kicked off the event by fostering team spirit from the very start. Over 120 students and 20 volunteers registered under 10 volunteering teams. Ramakrishna Garments generously donated T-shirts to unite all participants under one cause.
Our distinguished guests, including Mr. Kannan Sugantharaman (CFO, Omega Healthcare), Mr. Jahir Hussain Magdum Gani (Entrepreneur and Social Activist), and Dr. T.L. Nanda Gopal (Founder, Gandhi Foundation), shared insights on education, continuous learning, and time management, inspiring our students. We also highlighted key projects from GHF’s 16+ year journey, such as Kalvi Pattarai, Siragugal, Nandavanam Shelter Home, and Thithikkum Deepavali.
Success stories from former students Arun K – Integration Engineer & UAV Pilot at Killis Bird LLP, Abinaya B- Graduate Engineer Trainee (Hyundai), & Priyadarshini V – Senior Analyst, EY India)—offered further inspiration. The day ended with a distribution of induction certificates and a session on GHF’s core values, led by our volunteer, Baskaran, who creatively conveyed these values through animations, team-building activities, and real-life stories.
Day 2 Highlights:
Mr. Jai Shankar Trustee of Rukmani Trust and Mrs. Madhushri Ravi , volunteer of Rukmani Trust (our principal donor for the Siragugal project), delivered an inspiring virtual speech on the importance of time and core values. Additional success stories from Shafna Fathima J – Customer Relationship officer, Bank Bazaar, Sabarinathan R – Embedded Engineer at Renault Nissan (RNTBCI), and Gayathri B – Research Fellow, Indian Institute of Geomagnetism, Mumbai further motivated the students.
Our IT upskilling bootcamp beneficiaries also shared their transformative experiences.
Mr. Muralinath, a long-time volunteer and mentor, gave a powerful motivational speech, while senior volunteers like Vignesh Anna and Shankar Anna shared their experiences and explained the various opportunities at GHF. We also honored all volunteers and core team members with mementos for their selfless dedication.
In conclusion, the GHF Family Meet was a resounding success. The enthusiasm and engagement of the students, combined with the impactful message of our core values—summed up by “I RESPECT GHF”—resonated deeply with everyone.
Mr. Thamarai Kannan – Director Kanavu Aasiriyar, who has been following all our field efforts all these years gave a memorable speech where he shared his own interpretation on the word ‘Gold Heart’, emphasizing on heart which functions 24X7 in parallel to how the Gold Heart Foundation has been doing service round the clock.
Special thanks to EverWin Vidyashram for providing the venue, Ramakrishna Garments for the T-shirts, and all our donors and volunteers who made this event possible. With a clear vision, mission, and process in place, we are well on our way to supporting even more deserving students in the years to come.
Thank you to Rukmani Trust and everyone who has supported us on this journey!
Here are some highlights from the event:
Day 1 Glimpse: Watch here
Day 2 Glimpse: Watch here
Together, we can empower the nation through education. Jai Hind!
With gratitude,
Ganesh Anna
Executive Director
Siragugal – Gold Heart Foundation