It is often said childhood is the greatest gift of life. But, millions of kids across the world are deprived of this wonderful gift – extreme poverty and other socio-economic ills prevent many tiny tots from having nutritious food and education. Many of these unfortunate future citizens toil hard as laborers in horrible working conditions to help their families make both ends meet.
How can this problem be overcome? Can an individual or a corporate entity help eradicate childhood malnutrition and provide schooling to all? The answer is no; the scale of the problem is too huge for any person or company to resolve. But, together, we can make a huge difference, and out of this collaborative spirit was born the Pledge 1% movement.
What is the Pledge 1% movement?
Pledge 1% is a global corporate social responsibility program launched by Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. More than 1,000 companies across 30 cities in the United States have already joined the program; the initiative facilitates effective collaboration between its members to create a better tomorrow.
How does Solunus work with the Pledge 1% movement?
Solunus is a member of the Pledge 1% movement. Its staff and the leadership team spend 1% of their time to support underserved people of the society. “We organize various initiatives to support our community,” said Sudhakar Pennam, founder and CEO of Solunus Inc. “Our partnership with the Pledge 1% program enables us to comprehend the community’s needs more effectively, and this goes a long way in helping us serve it better.”
What are the various programs undertaken by Solunus to help the underprivileged?
For years, we have worked with several charities and not-for-profit institutions to further the cause of poor children. Many of these financially disadvantaged kids receive mid-day meals at their schools. However, the outbreak of COVID-19 has resulted in closure of the schools preventing the little ones from getting nutritious diet.
We intended to help at least a few children, by providing them good food and learning materials. We tied-up with Akshaya Patra, a not-for-profit organization that plays an active role in eliminating classroom hunger and improving the living conditions of underprivileged kids.
Our team contributed its time to provide Happiness Kits to poor students of the Mandal Parishad Prathamika Patashala, a government-run primary school in Sultanpur, near Hyderabad, India. Each Happiness Kit contains nutritious materials such as glucose, powdered finger millet, Bengal gram, peanuts and jaggery. The kit also contains immunity-boosting substances such as Sambar powder (a mixture of lentils and various healthy spices)and turmeric, besides toothpaste, a toothbrush, sanitary napkins and various educational articles such as a notebook, pencils, crayons and an activity workbook.
“Activities such as these greatly nourish our soul. The satisfaction we get by helping these kids is immense – the smiles on their faces are priceless. We feel blessed by the words of thanks we get from these little ones. It is indeed a truly gratifying experience,” said one of the employees who participated in the program.
Solunus also works with Nethra Vidyalaya, a Non-governmental Organization (NGO) running a residential school for visually impaired children in Vishakhapatnam, India. Our team serves food to kids at the school, on the birthdays of its employees. We also arrange to provide the children with free homeopathic medicines and health consultation services on alternate Sundays of every month.
Similarly, we participate in several programs in the United States to help the underserved. For instance, we partner with the North Texas Food Bank (NTFB) in Dallas, Texas; our employees volunteer to pack nutritious meals for poor kids under the Food 4 Kids program and take great pleasure in helping alleviate their hunger.
The primary focus of Solunus’ programs for the society has been on helping combat childhood hunger. However, this does not prevent the company from working with charities for other social causes. “Business entities can play a key role in serving the underprivileged, especially the destitute old,” said Pennam, while launching a program sponsored by the company, at the Roanoke Community and Senior Center in the Dallas area.
How does Solunus plan to take its corporate social responsibility programs forward?
The company will continue to work with its social partners and contribute its time for programs that make the society a better place to live in. “We believe in the power of partnerships, and partnerships between various businesses can go a long way in helping those in need,” said Pennam. “We plan to organize more volunteer-led programs in the coming months and work on aspects where we can contribute the most. So, keep an eye on our blog and social media handles.”
About Solunus:
Solunus is a dedicated Salesforce partner organization, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Our unrelenting focus on comprehending the unique needs of our clients coupled with our unrivaled expertise of the Salesforce platform enable us to deliver the perfect solutions that create the best value. Our unflinching commitment to quality and affordability has earned us a 100% Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) score from all our customers.
