BANGALORE, India, DEC. 22, 2000 (ZENIT.org).- It´s Christmas time; a time for charity. With this in mind, a conglomeration of Indian information technology industries yesterday launched a website on Christmas, www.christmasindia.com, perhaps the only one of its kind in the country, according to the Catholic SAR News Agency.
The single-minded purpose of this site is to raise support for the needy children in the form of notebooks, school supplies, and funds for the needy child´s education, according to the dotcom company.
It all began with a search on the Internet for a CD on Christmas carols for a school principal. This small request led to a small quest — to make a difference in the lives of children exposed to only one kind of music: that of hardship, hunger, ignorance and ignominy.
Since it started with the Net, the creators of the web site asked themselves how they could use this medium to get help for the less fortunate children. The timing was perfect, since Christmas is a season for giving. They met with Child Care India, a leading charity in this cause, to kick off the initiative. The charity, a brainchild of Fr. Gerard Valavan of Bangalore, has over 6,000 children under its care, spread across the towns and villages of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Its vision is to educate 100,000 children by 2005.
Some of the features of this website are: E-greeting cards paintings created by village and slum children under the auspices Child Care India, a chat with Santa Claus, and Christmas related events in Bangalore. Several companies signed on to provide the content of the site.
The Rotary House of Friendship, Bangalore is the collection center for people to deposit gifts for the needy children. Donations can also be made to alternate charities through the Rotary Club of Bangalore Charitable Trust.
