New Year Celebrations at Snehasadan - shelter for homeless kids

kids Jan 2, 2014

To celebrate the new year’s eve of 2013, a group of friends and their families came together at Snehasadan, a shelter for homeless children at Jogeshwari, where 45 boys from the age of 6 to 20 live with their house-parents – the D’Souzas. Laden with lots of goodies including yummy snacks and gifts, the volunteers spent their new year eve with the boys and played lots of games and made friends with them.

Snehasadan, a shelter for homeless children, regardless of caste or creed, provides shelter for numerous homeless orphans, waifs, restitutes and delinquents who roam the streets in Mumbai. Snehasadan runs 16 homes in different parts of the city under the guardianship of house-parents – each with a family of about 30 children who find a roof, food and lots of love. In an atmosphere of complete freedom and a sense of belonging that gives them back their self-respect and a place in society.

Thanks to James and Irene D’Souza – the house-parents of the shelter for allowing us to host the party at Snehasadan. Incidentally, James was also raised in the same shelter way back in 1965 when the shelter was just started. We also thank Fr. P. Fonseca, S.J. – one of the directors of Snehasadan – for joining the party.

We must thank all the generous sponsors who donated the gifts and snacks for the occasion:

  • Burgers by McDonald’s thanks to Sachin Damle
  • Samosas by Gulatis, Andheri thanks to Harjeet Singh
  • T-shirts by Striders, thanks to Praful Uchil
  • Caps by James
  • Jalebis by Anonymous
  • Drinks by Soumitra Ranade
  • Chocolates by Aashrita

A special thanks to Richa Vashishta and Aanchal with their group of friends for doing a fabulous job at organizing the games for the event!

We all had such a lot of fun, and it was great to see how our children and their friends connected and played and bonded with the boys of the shelter.

What a lovely start for the new year – here’s wishing everyone a great new year of 2014!

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Ashutosh Bijoor

Adventurer, mathematician, software architect, cyclist, musician, aspiring wood worker