CSR – AMWAY INDIA
In all countries and territories Amway operates, it follows the principle of �giving back� to society � which is carried out under the umbrella campaign, One-By-One. One-By-One calls all Amway Business Owners (ABOs), employees, affiliates and customers to �rally around and support one unified cause: improving the well being of children. Through this campaign we have the opportunity to make a real, lasting difference by making life better for children around the world�.
Amway Opportunity Foundation, or AOF for short, is responsible for Amway�s corporate social responsibility (CSR) plans and initiatives.
It is a registered non-profit organization registered under the Societies Act.
AOF is also registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act [FCRA], which means that it has the permission of the Government of India to accept foreign funds.
Donations to AOF are exempt under section 80 G of the Income Tax Act, which means that any donation to AOF draws a 50% rebate on income tax.
AOF is a decentralized organization that has 46 Local Implementation Committees (LIC) in as many cities. Each LIC comprises a mix of select Amway employees and distributors (in AOFs eyes, all Amway employees and Amway distributors are AOF volunteers � whenever and wherever there is an AOF event, both the distributor, as well as the employee contribute their time and efforts, unflinchingly).
Each LIC has the capacity to carry out 3-5 events and activities in a year � these could include organizing visits and donations to orphanages, organizing health camps for children from economically depressed sections, blood donation camps, celebrating Children�s Day either with children from economically depressed sections or from orphanages.
Each LIC tries to raise funds locally, which are then used in their city, thereby building-in an element of ownership.
To inculcate a sense of competition, AOF has also instituted a rolling shield which is given to the best LIC of the year.
Guwahati LIC was the recipient of the best LIC, in 2004. Salem LIC is the recipient for the year 2005.
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FACT SHEET– Activities conducted
Amway Opportunity Foundation (AOF) is a registered non-profit organization which looks after Amway India�s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
1996
Donates a state-of-the-art mobile dental clinic to the Rotary Club, Delhi Mid-town, for use in slum areas.
1997 Presents a 20-volume Braille set of the Webster�s Dictionary in English, to the Delhi Blind School.
1998 Commences National Project for the Blind Braille textbooks being printed for Rajasthan. Under this project, AOF brought out Braille textbooks for all blind-school going children in a state.
Endowment to the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) Delhi University.
1999 Supports the National Braille reading contest held at Delhi. Braille textbooks for all blind school-going children Delhi.
Audio textbooks for Bangalore University Supports the Terry Fox run at Bangalore. This is an event organized around the world, in aid of cancer research.
2000 2nd National Braille Reading contest at Delhi.
Braille textbooks for Maharasthra, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Supports the Karnataka Welfare Association for the Blind (KWAB) in conducting a cultural event in Bangalore.
Celebrates International White Cane day.
2001 3rd National Braille reading contest on Louis Braille day.
Donates a sum of Rs 30 lacs to Child Relief and You (CRY) after the Gujarat earthquake.
Braille textbooks for Punjab, Bihar, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.
Celebrates International White Cane Day, in 9 cities.
Sets up a specialized computer centre with the Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys Academy (RKMBBA), Narendrapur, Kolkata.
Supports Dr. Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital in conducting communications workshops for the blind.
Teams up with Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) to set up 10 village libraries in Wynaad district, Kerala.
Distributes 1000 Braille kits for blind children in Kerala.
Makes possible the National Conference on Braille, in Delhi.
Supports Autism week in December 2001 in Delhi.
2002 4th National Braille reading contest.
Celebrates International White Cane Day in 10 cities.
Enables the state-level chess tournament for the blind, in Tamil Nadu.
Celebrates Children�s Day, in 11 cities, wherein AOF volunteers (Amway distributors and staff) take children from orphanages and homes for destitute children, to picnics, amusement parks or film shows.
20 blood donation camps held in the year
Organises a cataract operation camp at Surat – 120 free operations.
2003 5th National Braille reading contest in Delhi.
Braille textbooks for Rajasthan & Delhi (2nd time), Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh.
Free eye camps were held at Erode, Balasore, Delhi and Siliguri – over 25,000 persons had free eye check ups and around 500 free operations were carried out.
White Cane Day, where over 2000 White Canes were distributed to the blind.
Celebrates children�s day in eight cities.
Musical-nite fund raiser at Madurai. Proceeds pledged to the Indian Blind School at Madurai.
Holds over 50 Blood Donation Camps, with 5,000 donors � most of whom are Amway distributors.
Receives citation and award from the World Blind Union (WBU), in Dec 03. AOF is the only Indian NGO to be so recognized by WBU.
A series of fundraisers was held, by providing Hepatitis B vaccinations for the public. The proceeds of this used for child-related issues.
Surat Raktdaan Kendra and Madurai Medical college award AOF for BDCs it has held.
2004 Car rally for blind children at Surat, and Jaipur-foot camp at Balasore.
Fund-raiser musical nights held at Chennai, Coimbatore, Erode, Ranchi and Kolkata.
AOF volunteers at Guwahati collected and donated Rs 30,000 to the district administration to help combat the flood crisis in the north eastern state.
Braille textbooks for Madhya Pradesh.
Holds over 50 blood donations camps in 2004 as well. Receives two awards � one from Indian Red Cross Society, Orissa and the other from Central Red Cross bank, Cuttack.
Donates furniture and clothing to St. Michael Blind School Ranchi.
Children�s Day celebrated in as many as 35 cities.
Organizes heart-check up camp at village Charba, Dehradun.
Refurbishes Balika Niketan, the Home for the destitute girl-child at Dehradun.
2005 Donates group hearing system to the Red Cross Koshish School for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind at Amritsar, and musical instruments and toys to the Anubhab School for mentally challenged children. Study material donated to the Bhima Bhoi Blind School, Bhubaneshwar, and to the Blind school, Guwahati.
Funds raiser musical-nite at Guwahati, Pune, Ahmedabad, Surat, and Rajkot, and at Lucknow (picnic), Siliguri and Bhubaneshwar (health camps)
45 blood donation camps held till Sep-2005
On occasion of World Health Day 2005 (April 7th) holds health camps at orphanages at Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Rajkot, Kurnool, Hyderabad, Chennai and Salem.
Constructing two blocks of an orphanage at Nagapattinam for Tsunami affected children
Celebrated International White Cane day in 16 cities, distributed 200 canes at each.
Celebrated Children�s day at 36 cities � free MMR camps at 8 and picnics and outings for orphans at 28 others.
2006 Donates appliances and furniture to orphanages and Guwahati, Kolkata, Kohlapur.
Upgrades two orphanages and Kochi and Lucknow.
Organised two typhoid camps at 15 cities across India.
NATIONAL PROJECT FOR THE BLIND
Amway launched the National Project for the Blind in 1998, when it entered into a partnership with the Delhi-based NGO, All India Confederation of the Blind (AICB). In 2000, it entered into understanding with the Mumbai-based National Association for the Blind, India (NAB).
Under this project, AOF and AICB/NAB print and distribute Braille textbooks to all school-going children in a state. This partnership has printed and distributed Braille textbooks across the country. A total of 15 MoUs have been signed between AOF and its NGO partners. The states covered so far are:
Rajasthan
Delhi
Haryana
Punjab
Uttar Pradesh
Bihar
Maharashtra
Gujurat
Andhra Pradesh
Karnataka
Madhya Pradesh
Tamil Nadu
Rajasthan – second time
Delhi – second time
Punjab – second time
Besides the Braille project, AOF has also helped NGOs celebrate the International White Cane Day for the past 5 years. On this day, visually challenged take out a dignified procession and over 2000 White Canes are distributed.
AOF also had supported the National Braille reading competition for four years.
AOF has also helped the Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys Academy (RKMBBA), Narendarpur (Kolkatta) to set up a computer centre. This is the first such computer centre for the blind in Eastern India. Set in a sprawling and green campus, this efficiently run institution has a host of facilities for its students, which includes music, crafts, vocational training, besides the routine classes. One of the various pressing requirements was a computer centre, which would enable students to pick up this much-needed skill.
DONATIONS MADE BY AOF
In 1996 (two years prior to the start of commercial operations) Amway donated a fully-equipped mobile dental van to Rotary Club of Delhi mid-town.
In 1997, it donated a set of Webster�s Dictionary in Braille to the school run by the Blind Relief Association.
AOF volunteers donated sports equipment to the MGD School for the Deaf and Blind at Bhatinda.
AOF volunteers at Guwahati � comprising the local Amway distributors � collected and donated Rs 30,000 to the district administration to help combat the flood crisis in the north eastern state.
AOF volunteers and Amway distributors donated necessary furniture and clothing to St Micheal Blind School Ranchi. These funds were raised at a special film-screening in Ranchi which was supported by Amway distributors of Ranchi.
AOF donated study material and sports equipment to the NAB hostel for blind boys at Bhopal.
AOF donated a group hearing system to the Red Cross Koshish School for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind. Using an amplifier, this equipment enables 12 deaf persons/children to �hear� lessons being imparted by teachers. These funds too, were raised locally by the AOF volunteers � Amway distributors.
Amway volunteers donated musical instruments and toys to the Anubhab school for mentally challenged children, Siliguri.
At Bhubaneshwar AOF donated Braille textbooks and other study material to the Bhima Bhoi Blind School, Bhubaneshwar, from funds raised by AOF volunteers of that city.
The January 26th killer-quake that rocked Gujarat in 2001 devastated almost the entire state. Tens of thousand lost their lives, uncounted others lost their homes. A whole slew of aid-agencies rushed into the beleaguered state, offering first aid, medicine, food, blankets etc.
After sifting through a host of possible partners through whom Amway could channelise its relief money, AOF proposed that CRY would seem a preferred partner. AOF took a conscious decision to channelise Rs. 35 lacs that Amway distributors, employees and Awmay as a company, had collected.
CRY utilized the Amway funds in the following villages of Anjar (Bhuj) and Dhrol (Jamnagar).
Rambav Rapar
Kuda Jampar Rapar
Kakavav Bhachau
Nilper Bhachau
Meghpar Bhachau
Saran Vandh Rapar
Trambau Rapar
Vanoi Rapar
Suvai Rapar
Gauripar Rapar
Naranpar Rapar
Amway raised close to Rs 50 lacs, post the Dec 2004 Tsunami that wrecked havoc on India�s eastern coast. Currently, it is jointly building a school-cum-orphanage-cum-old-age-home at Nagapattinam.
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AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
Presented the Millenium Outstanding Service Award 2000, by the All India Confederation for the Blind (AICB), in recognition for work carried out for the visually challenged.
The Indian Red Cross Society, Orissa awarded AOF a memento & certificate for conducting a mega-Blood Donation camp of 816 units on 4th May, 2003.
The Surat Raktdaan Kendra felicitated Amway India at their annual function on 5th Oct, 2003, for the largest number of donors at a Blood Donation Camp (BDC) held by any financial and commercial institution and industry. The Mayor of Surat – Snehlata Chouhan – presented a trophy and a certificate of appreciation.
Amway also received the Hajee Sulaiman Omar Memorial Ever Rolling Shield, by the Madurai Medical College. Amway was the ONLY corporate entity to conduct a BDC on such a scale – rest of the camps are held by educational institutions.
Presented an award by the World Blind Union (WBU), for sterling contribution to improve and elevate the quality of life of visually impaired children’, at a function in Delhi on Dec 2nd 2004. The award included a citation and a large-sized statue of Saraswati, the Goddess of Knowledge, was presented by the Lt Governor of Delhi, Shri Vijai Kapoor. WBU is an apex body for the visually impaired that enjoys consultative status with the United Nations.
The Central Red Cross Bank, Cuttack awarded Amway Opportunity Foundation with a trophy and Certificate for contributing the highest number 400 units to their Blood Bank.
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Adopt a Child – Project Muskaan
Objective:
To expend support � financial or material � to select orphanages/homes, under the umbrella of One-By-One – Amway�s social project that is at work in 88 countries and territories worldwide, with children as its focal area of work.
Our commitment to each orphanage is in multiples of 12-month blocks.
A definite criteria for the selection of the orphanages was established even before the identification process started.
The orphanage would need to be small, with 30-40 children being an ideal number, though we could raise the ceiling in exceptional cases.
With little or no institutional support at the moment.
It would need to be well respected in the local community � with an impeccable functioning record.
It would need to be an institution sans local political or religious patronage or overtones.
No infamous personality on its board.
It would be preferable that the orphanage be based at a permanent premises.
Project
This project is carried out in partnership with Amway Business Owners (ABOs) who contribute to help meet expenses of the children in these orphanages. Amway matches the donations made by ABOs.
Needs (of children) identified
(i) Education – 25%
(ii) Food and nutrition � 50%
(iii) Healthcare � 10%
(iv) Clothing, bedding & toiletry needs � 15%
How monies are collected
Donations can be made via cheque in the name of AOF Orphanage Fund, and handed over at the various Amway offices. In addition ABO’s can authorize deduction from their AR account while Amway employees can authorize deduction from their salaries.
Community service efforts :
MOBILE DENTAL CLINIC
Amway donated a state-of-the-art mobile dental clinic to the Rotary Club, Delhi Mid-town, for the use in slum areas in 1996. Operated by the Rotary Club, this clinic offers free dental check up and care six days a week, 52 weeks a year, to the underprivileged in and around Delhi.
ENDOWMENT TO THE FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF DELHI
Amway made a significant endowment to the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) Delhi University, in 1998. This led to the creation of the Amway Chair on Entrepreneurial Development at the FMS. This endowment had been made with the intention of encouraging entrepreneurial study.
BLIND
AOFs tryst with the blind started in 1998, when it entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Delhi-based All India Confederation for the Blind (AICB). According to this MoU, AICB was to first ascertain the requirement of Braille textbooks for blind children studying in Rajasthan, and then print and distribute these Braille textbooks. This MoU which was to serve as the blue print for all subsequent work undertaken by AOF.
AICB has a Braille printing press at their premises at Rohini, a suburb of Delhi. According to the AICB, a Braille book costs seven to ten times more than a normal book. Apparently, there are 16 Braille printing press in India, about half of which are not in proper working condition.
More importantly of the 2 million blind children in India, only between six and eight per cent have access to Braille textbooks. This was the single-most important factor in deciding the direction of social responsibility undertaken by AOF: while prevention and cure for blindness is an integral part of the country’s development plans, education for the blind, unfortunately, has taken back seat.
After Rajasthan, the AOF-AICB combine turned its sights on Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and now, Bihar.
In September 2000, AOF entered into another strategic partnership with the National Association for the Blind, India (NAB), a mumbai-based NGO. Both AICB and NAB are NGOs of national eminence. With the NAB, AOF has been able to ensure that blind children in Maharashtra and Gujarat have access to Braille textbooks. While AICB is to look after states in the north and the east, NAB is to concentrate on the west and the south.
If all the Braille pages printed by AOF, are joined, end-to-end, we reckon that a distance of close to 2,000 kms can be covered!
AOF plans to re-visit each state once in three years. Why? Because a Braille textbook has a three-year life span, after which it becomes unusable. Once a cycle is established, this will be maintained on a regular basis.
WHITE CANE DAY AND LOUIS BRAILLE DAY
Since 1998, AOF has also been active in some other activities for the blind. AOF has, along with AICB, celebrated White Cane Day (October 15th) and Louis Braille day (January 4th).
On White Cane Day, AOF supports AICB distribute white canes to blind children.
On Louis Braille Day – held annually to commemorate the birthday of Louis Braille, the inventor of the Braille system – AOF supports AICB in conducting a unique event: the National Braille reading contest. Here, preliminary rounds are held on a regional basis. The winners from all different states are then brought to Delhi where the nationals are held.
AOF AND CHILD RELIEF AND YOU (CRY)
The January 26th killer-quake that rocked Gujarat in 2001 devastated almost the entire state. Tens of thousand lost their lives, uncounted others lost their homes. A whole slew of aid-agencies rushed into the beleaguered state, offering first aid, medicine, food, blankets etc.
After sifting through a host of possible partners through whom Amway could channelise its relief money, AOF proposed that CRY as a preferred partner. CRY is another well-known NGO that has an impeccable track record. As in most emergencies, it is the children who are often the worst affected, AOF took a conscious decision to channelise Rs. 35 lacs that Amway distributors, employees and Awmay as a company, had collected.
An AOF representative traveled some 800 kms in the worst affected areas of Anjar (Bhuj) and Dhrol (Jamnagar) in areas where not even one building remained unaffected. With the funds Amway had sent them, CRY runs activity centres for children in the following villages in these two areas.
Rambav Rapar
Kuda Jampar Rapar
Kakavav Bhachau
Nilper Bhachau
Meghpar Bhachau
Saran Vandh Rapar
Trambau Rapar
Vanoi Rapar
Suvai Rapar
Gauripar Rapar
Naranpar Rapa
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NANHE CHITRAKAAR
AOF has, in the past three years, held two painting contests for children of the Amway family. These contests take place in some 20 cities, where children of distributors, employees and other service partners participate.
With the venue and all other infrastructure taken care of, the children have a field day giving wing to their imagination. All entries (four thousand plus) are sent to Delhi, where a rigorous selection system involving well-known painters and others, is followed.
The first ten paintings then serve as impressions for Seasons Greetings, Congratulations and Thank You cards, which are then sold by Amway distributors. The proceeds of these cards form the bulk of AOFs annual budget. Thus, the Amway distributor is intricately linked to AOFs work, and hence has a significant share in Amway’s social responsibility.
COMPUTER CENTRE IN A SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND
AOF has also helped the Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys Academy (RKMBBA), Narendarpur (Kolkatta) set up a computer centre. This is the first such computer centre for the blind in Eastern India. Set in a sprawling and green campus, this efficiently run institution has a host of facilities for its students, which includes music, crafts, vocational training, besides the routine classes. One of the various pressing requirements was a computer centre, which would enable students to pick up this much-needed skill.
Contact Details
Amway India Enterprises
A-35, Sector-16
Noida (U.P.)
Tel.: +91-120-3096500
Fax: +91-120-3096552
Website : www.amwayindia.com/htmls/AboutUs_CommunityService.html#computer