From donating $5M to providing blue-collar jobs – the top Social Stories of the week
This week, SocialStory witnessed a slew of stories on donations, crowdfunding, kindness, and providing livelihoods. Also, read our explainer on India’s mass inoculation drive, all set to begin today.
SocialStory delved into the workings of crowdfunding platforms that raised crores of money, aiding thousands of social causes during the pandemic.
In fact, we also witnessed Founder of SpaceX and Co-founder of Tesla Inc Elon Musk’s kind gesture, who donated $5 million to Khan Academy, a non-profit educational platform.
With the vaccines rolling out today in India, we bring you a YourStory Explainer on everything you need to know about the mass inoculation drive.
Here are the top Social Stories for the week:
Elon Musk donates $5 million to Khan Academy
World’s richest person and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, recently donated $5 million to non-profit educational platform Khan Academy through his Musk Foundation.
Founder of Khan Academy, Salman Khan or Sal Khan, thanked the billionaire for his donation through a video, which he tweeted from his personal Twitter handle.
The dog-lover from Bengaluru, who rescued over 2,000 injured dogs
After witnessing the tragic death of a dog, Haris Ali took it upon himself to rescue abused and injured dogs as and when the requests came. He would either admit them to the hospital or take them to the animal shelter CUPA (Compassion Unlimited Plus Action!) in Bengaluru. This, however, became a challenge navigating through the city.
Hence, in 2017, he started a shelter in a small room, and he saw about 20 dogs coming in on the first day itself. Once he got used to carrying out the rescue operations successfully, he shifted the shelter to a bigger plot in JP Nagar to accommodate the rising number of dogs. Thus, Sarvoham Welfare Trust was born.
Crowdfunding platforms raising crores for social causes during the pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a time of struggle, especially for those who lost their livelihoods. In these trying times, crowdfunding platforms have come as saviours. The various causes and campaigns listed on the platforms have helped millions of people across India survive the pandemic.
SocialStory connected with these crowdfunding platforms to understand how they strategised to raise funds and help communities cope during such bleak times.
Here’s all you need to know about the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in India
On January 16, 2021, the Indian government will begin its Phase 1 COVID-19 vaccination drive — one of the largest coronavirus inoculation drives in the world.
In an address following a meeting with medical experts, health workers, and chief ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Centre would bear all the expenses for Phase 1 of the rollout.
The recipients would include private and government healthcare workers, frontline workers, sanitation workers, defence personnel, and police and paramilitary forces. In Phase 2, the government would focus on senior citizens and people with co-morbid conditions.
From how to register for the vaccine, to what to expect after you register, and more — this YourStory Explainer has all the answers related to the mass vaccination drive.
JustRojgar, Spayee helping blue-collar workers get jobs
According to a report by Betterplace, over 10 lakh blue-collar jobs have been estimated to be lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But there is hope, as many have come forward to help the unorganised sector in these trying times. JustRojgar and Spayee are two such startups.
The lockdown made it almost impossible for JustRojgar to function — an innovative workforce startup that aims to groom the blue-collar workforce while connecting them to the right employers. But, with the help of edtech startup Spayee, one of YourStory’s Tech30 startups of 2020, JostRojgar shifted to the online medium and trained thousands of manpower while making them job-ready.
Edited by Suman Singh