Heeru Foundation

Heeru Foundation started functioning in the month of October 2019. The first three months were utilised in talking to people, building a network, meeting people from different NGOs and other organisations, and thus identifying those that Heeru Foundation would like to join hands with and support.

Mr. Girish V. Katkoria, Chairman of Heeru Corrosion Protection Services Pvt. Ltd., and Trustee of Heeru Foundation, believes in long term association with the organisations that the Foundation supports. He took personal interest in knowing the organisations by interacting with their Founders, visiting their premises, and gauging their requirements. He also ensured maximum engagement of employees from the parent company, and his own participation in the planning and execution of the activities.

Mr. Rushabh Katkoria, the young and dynamic Managing Director of Heeru Corrosion Protection Services Pvt. Ltd., and Trustee of Heeru Foundation, is responsible for bringing energy and enthusiasm into the Team CSR. He was very clear that he wanted Heeru Foundation to work for the benefit of underprivileged/orphaned children, which is why most of the organisations singled out to support this year, are dealing with different developmental aspects of young children.

Mrs. Ratna Shrinvasan, Head CSR, joined the company in October 2019, just as Heeru Foundation was being set up. She brings with her the rich experience of three decades in the field of Education, which includes heading three different schools in the city of Vadodara. She has been instrumental in networking, researching about, and identifying the various organisations that Heeru Foundation is supporting in this Financial Year, and the next.

Vision

Our vision at HEERU is to contribute to the sustainable development of the society. This is aimed to be achieved by working with employees, their families, the local community and society at large to provide “A Better Life, A Better World”. We strive in working towards inclusive growth as part of our commitment towards society and strongly believe that unless and until the fruits of development are equally shared with all our stakeholders, the vision of inclusive and sustainable growth is difficult to achieve.

Mission

  • To empower the marginalized by generating sustainable livelihood.
  • To provide access to healthcare through donation of resources and other health initiatives/projects for the less privileged.
  • To encourage employee engagement across all our locations.
  • To abide by the Corporate Social Responsibility norms as prescribed in the Act and take responsibility for the impact of our activities on environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the society.

Our Activities

Education & Food

The Foundation decided to associate itself with Pathshala Hostel, at Lasundra Village, near Savli, Baroda which is run by the Srotoshwini Trust. The Pathshala Hostel is for children of migrant labourers where they are provided accommodation, food and other daily needs besides being given training in special skills. It has the capacity to house 100 children. The Founder Ms. Juin Dutta and 5 other mentors live on the premises, and look after the children, training and grooming them to become independent individuals, capable of generating a livelihood. These children are enrolled in a school in Vadodara city.

Heeru Foundation supported them by providing them with the groceries required for the month of March 2020.

The Foundation has also committed to sponsor 25 children’s education for the year 2020-21.

The CSR Team attended a Carnival organized by the children of Pathshala Hostel, under the guidance of their mentors. It was a festive and colourful evening, with a lot of energy, enthusiasm and cheer.

Visit of our Trustee to Pathshala Hostel:-

Project Eklavya

Heeru foundation is associated with Shri Ananta Charitable Trust, a non-profit organization.

One of their initiatives, Project Eklavya, working with 95 promising kids from underprivileged background. Each child in the program receives 5 years of educational and healthcare support along with which they are imparted life-skills via their rigorous character development program. The character development program puts emphasis on extensive experiential and linked learning through habit-building and repetition.

Heeru Foundation supported Project Eklavya by giving financial support.

Healthcare

The Foundation identified Healthcare as an area that it would like to be associated with. So, it decided to support The Wishing Factory, a not-for-profit organization, dedicated to improving and enriching the lives of young, underprivileged Thalassemia patients. Established in 2015, till date, they have impacted 2500+ patients in the areas of Healthcare, Education and Patient Welfare Activities.

Their mission is to provide Thalassemia patients with state of the Art Healthcare facilities and psychological support, while simultaneously working towards their vision of making India Thalassemia free and raising awareness about the importance of a Thalassemia Test.

Heeru Foundation adopted 15 thalassemia patients, and provided for their medical needs for a year .The Foundation has also committed to appointing a Counsellor for the patients.

A Blood Donation Camp was organized by the Foundation and The Wishing Factory, for which the staff of Heeru participated enthusiastically, by coming on a Sunday morning to donate blood. The Jalaram Blood Bank provided its medical team, and all the blood thus collected was donated to them.

Women Empowerment and Environment Protection:

The Foundation associated with Syuti, a young organization set up by Ms. Rupal Sheth, to provide a livelihood to underprivileged women and reduce consumer’s dependence on single-use plastic bags by replacing them with reusable cloth bags.

The Foundation gave financial support to the organization to buy the materials to make the 4000 reusable cloth bags, with a commitment to give further support in future for 4000 more.

Vocational Training:

Heeru Foundation decided to help adolescents develop vocational skills and generate livelihood. Hence, it joined hands with SAHAJ, a well established organization that is currently working in 15 bastis in urban Vadodara, comprising of 1100 young girls/women, and 1300 young boys/men, in the age group of 15 -30 years.

SAHAJ identified 20 to 25 girls who are school dropouts and /or unemployed and interested in learning stitching and jewelry making, who will receive a basic training of three months and then be further groomed, for making a livelihood out of it.

They will also guide adolescent boys and girls for various placements/ jobs in the government sector. They will also organize training sessions for enhancing skills for personality development and communication skills.

Heeru Foundation has committed to support this project of SAHAJ, beginning in the Financial Year 2019-20 and continuing through the Financial Year 2020-21.

The Heeru Foundation team attended an Open House at the SAHAJ premises, to interact with the adolescents and mentors associated with SAHAJ, to get first hand information about their activities.

COVID -19 Warriors :Health care and Police personnel

The entire world has been engulfed by the pandemic caused by the Corona Virus, for the last three months. All sections of the society have been affected by the lockdown imposed by the Indian Government.

With the media reporting a dearth of face masks, Mr. Girish V. Katkoria, Trustee of Heeru Foundation, hit upon a way to help the frontline warriors fighting against the pandemic. With the help of SYUTI, we got 6000 face masks made, which were handed over to the Commissioner of Police, Vadodara, and the doctors and health workers at SSG Hospital, Vadodara. They were also distributed amongst the sanitation workers and bastis.

Relief Measures for Covid-19 in 2021-22

Heeru Foundation donated 100 beds to GMERS, Gotri, Baroda at their special facility set up for Covid patients.

Heeru Foundation partnered with World Youth Heart Federation, an International Non- Profit Organization, which has Medical Students as its Directors. The WYHF, Vadodara Chapter, coordinated with the Government hospitals in Vadodara, SSG and GMERS, and informed us of the immediate requirements, which we tried our best to fulfill, sometimes sourcing the medical supplies from Ahmedabad and Mumbai.

Medicines and Medical accessories were procured and sent to the two Government hospitals, in the months of April and May, when the second wave was at its peak.

Provided PPE kits and gloves to the crematorium workers at Wadi Wadi Crematorium, Baroda.

We bought Oxygen Concentrators and lent them to Covid patients who required it at home, on a use-and-return basis. 12 patients were benefitted by the Oxygen Concentrators.

Heeru Foundation also partnered with Bhaktidham Seva Trust, Shree Goverdhan Seva Trust and Zero Hour Foundation, to provide free meals for Covid patients and their families.