Who We Are
About Us
Project ReachOut
Project ReachOut is a youth organization where frugal innovation in service is encouraged and where people can flourish their skills. We aim to empower and inspire the youth to volunteer, understand the situation of the people in need of support and become socially responsible.
ReachOut is an organization suiting a hectic student-lifestyle. We function by fueling exceptional ideas and solutions, consequently creating extraordinary leaders. We house a wide range of activities owing to our diverse focus – our environment, the well-being of the differently-abled, mental health, donation drives, awareness drives, free webinars/workshops with professionals, contests, street-plays, you name it.
It is our firm belief that every action, big or small, can truly make a change in our community. We convert ideas into actions through effective discussions and co-ordination purely among young students. The Reachers manage everything right from planning to implementation. The success of an event is verified through feedback and self-satisfaction, ultimately embracing lives, together.
Here is where you are always welcome to put forward your ideas and turn them into actions. Here is where you can flourish your skills, be it teaching, photography, dancing, singing, art, literature, or philanthropy. Here is where you won’t be judged or frowned upon. Here is where you can feel at home!
Vision
We aspire to empower youth to volunteer and be active members of society and strive to increase empathy for people in need of support. We aim to make youth socially-conscious, responsible, and cognizant of their potential impact to make the world a better place for everyone.
Our Vision
Mission
To build a responsible team of capable and socially-conscious youngsters who understand the basic problems of our society and take action effectively.
Our Mission
This Is How Our Journey Began
Our Journey
During the summer of 2012, Adarsh Ramesh, Gaurang Ramesh, Vijay Ravi, Smrithi Bhagiritha, Gaurav, Rahul and Kshama who were undergraduate students, decided to write a play for Sneha Kiran, a non-profit for specially-abled children based in Mysuru. Little did they know that this would be a life-changing event spurring the inception of PRO. Their interactions and experience eventually lead them to base the characters off of the sparkly personas of the children. Inevitably, they found themselves cherishing every second of the time spent there and invited his friends along. The group helped out with physiotherapy for the kids as well as coordinating various events. Within the next month, Sneha Kiran had enough volunteers, and attention was shifted to similar non-profits following the concern that every child has a right to love and attention.
A chance encounter with the founder of Spoorthi Foundation led to the group trying out their hand at teaching in a school nearby. In November that year, a program called ‘Joy of Teaching’ began, where children in many other schools gained valuable lessons for a week. It was at this point that the number of people involved grew and with that, the priorities changed. Short-term solutions were deemed to be ineffective and so began the long journey to change the system itself. A new system was put in place keeping in mind the best interests of the children – one that was self-sustaining and efficient.
It was in 2013 that Project ReachOut was truly born- the year when it gained substance, as well as a purpose. Plenty more volunteers joined the cause, organizing flash mobs and fundraisers. The realization that everyone had something to contribute drove the organization to new heights. Even today, we believe that everybody in the world possesses the ability to help humanity, no matter how atypical it may be.
Eventually, Adarsh passed the torch of responsibility to Shashank for the next two years. It was during this time that Project ReachOut transfixed its primary goal as special education. Simultaneously, events such as marathons and blood donation drives were conducted in regular intervals. Over the next couple of years, Project ReachOut went on to associate with various other organizations and grow by leaps and bounds. It was under Mohammed Haroon Khatib’s leadership that we got the opportunity to join hands with a new school, ‘Aashiana’, Udayagiri. This manoeuvre allowed us to work closely with the special kids, and understand them on a whole new level. In his tenure, a firm emphasis was laid on highlighting issues such as mental health awareness and women’s safety.
In 2019, Nisarga Priyadarshini was instated as the President and has continued to spearhead the organization with nothing but sheer excellence. Introduction of environment and publicizing-social media teams were made to adjust to the present ‘new normal’ and focus on online events like free webinars and competitions; inexpensive online workshops – mental health importance and tips for differently-abled kids were conducted too. Volunteering in special schools, which had been till then irregular for most part, became a much more defined and consistent entity of Project ReachOut. We were extremely agile while working on our environment. It was during this period that the path-breaking and novel initiatives – TrashTalk, Plog and Talk were taken up, thereby focussing more on spreading awareness and making impact at grassroot level. We never shied away from helping other institutes that our vision resonated with; from special schools to palliative care centre. As long as we were doing the right thing and making this world a better place, we were elated to collaborate and join hands.
Right from the beginning of Nisarga’s tenure, a lot of emphasis was laid on building personal connections with the volunteers, and understanding them holistically. This directly translated to much more effective teams, with the volunteers having a clear idea on one’s responsibilities. The events that have been orchestrated in the past 2 years is a clear testament of our efficacy as a team.
Today, ReachOut is one big family tied together with obligation and compassion that has touched over 10,000 lives in the process. We provide a way for people to work for the greater good and translating vision into reality. Along with ensuring the safety and happiness of the less privileged, Project ReachOut also aims to help instil a sense of social justice in everyone associated with it. After all, we believe a non-profit is defined by its people.
It is not just about working for a cause, but also about reaching out to one’s conscious; to create a society which is aware and a hospitable environment to live in, for us and for our future generations.
Meet the Founders
Our Team
Gaurang Ramesh
Vijay Ravi
Smrithi Bhagiratha
Rahul Nadig
Gaurav Kashyap
Meet the Team
Sara Ayachit
Secretary
Pruthvi Bhat
Vice Secretary
Jayesh Jain
Treasurer
Hardik Shettigar
PR Lead
Apoorva KC
PR Lead
Jitin Dodeja
EM Lead
Shashank Rai
Advisor
Mohammed Haroon Khatib
Advisor
Nisarga P
Advisor