As 2021 draws to a close, I would like to take the opportunity to look back on a year that turned out much differently than anyone could have imagined. While it was certainly challenging in many ways, it also showed how strong we are as a family – even during the toughest of times. While the pandemic halted the world and forced us to keep our distance from family, friends and one another, the work done by our foundation enabled people to come together with the spirit of selfless service and do our bit to provide comfort in these troubled times.

The year started with Team YouWeCan, along with Super Speciality Paediatric Hospital, Noida organised special celebrations welcoming the new year for children fighting cancer and other ailments. Keeping in mind all COVID protocols, we fondly distributed hampers for children which included nourishing treats as well as stationary items to help them bring out their creative bugs.

We firmly believe that women are the backbone of our society. And what better way to honour their relentless spirit on Women’s Day through an interaction with frontline workers – who directly bore the brunt of the pandemic – not only through patient care but in many cases through their personal lives as well. This interaction deepened our understanding of the challenges they went through and at the same time instilled a deep sense of gratitude for their selflessness. We will always remain indebted to our frontline workers.

In continued efforts to celebrate Women’s Day, team YouWeCan in association with the Office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka District, New Delhi) conducted a workshop at the Wellness Centre, Dwarka Sector 23 Police Station on Breast Cancer Awareness with an intent to empower women to themselves on the importance of early detection and timely screening.

One of the biggest initiatives we have ever undertaken in this history of YouWeCan was #Mission1000Beds – implemented seeing the aftermath caused by the second wave of COVID-19. This was our Rapid Response Solution for Hospital Critical Care Capacity.

Expansion to scale up the COVID-19 critical care capacity of hospitals located in some of the most affected areas of the country by setting up 1000 COVID-19 Critical Care Beds. Supported by our partners who generously came forward and sponsored the critical care equipment, we were able to enhance the capacities of hospitals in places such as Telangana, Srinagar, Assam, Indore, New Delhi, Rohru, Rohtak, to name a few.

Another humanitarian activity we participated in this year was Independence from Hunger in the month of August. YouWeCan Foundation partnered with the Robin Hood Army to serve 5 million meals across India on Independence Day. More than 40 volunteers from YouWeCan Foundation were a part of this initiative and they helped the Robin Hood Army (RHA) distribute meals in various parts of the country. YouWeCan Foundation’s volunteers not only gave a helping hand wherever RHA had less volunteers, they also helped expand the RHA network in places where it didn’t have a strong foothold. The Foundation will lend support to this humanitarian initiative on a national level.

Funded by the Indian Institute of Banking & Finance and with SBI Foundation as the project partner and UE Life Sciences as the technology partner, we also proudly launched the much-awaited ‘Swasth Mahila, Swasth Goa Initiative’ to provide a technology intervention in the form of iBreast devices as well as training and capacity building support to the Government of Goa to screen 1 lakh women for breast cancer in the State over a period of two years. In addition to this, free treatment will be provided for all positive cases with the support of the Government of Goa.

Our corporate outreach event, Cupcakes for Cancer, enabled the foundation to raise funds through the help of talented home bakers who contributed 100% sales of their cupcakes for Breast Cancer awareness efforts. Social media was taken by storm, as volunteers and team members live streamed from the #PinkOctober Photo Booth — igniting the digital dialogue on early detection.

As part of our breast cancer awareness initiatives during the month of October, team YouWeCan proudly organized Stump Cancer – an all-women cricket tournament. Through this tournament, we aimed to raise awareness about breast cancer as well as encourage women to actively seek screening at regular intervals. Stump Cancer was a day of exciting events and what made it truly special, spectacular and scintillating was the thrill and excitement of the women cricket tournament.

We believe this is just the beginning and our efforts to spread awareness and fight cancer have just begun. We are committed to making even more efforts in the coming year. I sincerely wish thank you all for the hard work and commitment you’ve shown. Our combined strength is what makes us who we are.

Here’s wishing you and your loved ones the very best for 2022!