Statewide Vivek Band-2017 Campaign begins successfully, aiming to spread the message of ‘Be Good- Do Good’

Bengaluru January 12, 2017: Aimed to spread the message of ‘BE GOOD – DO GOOD’ on the occasion of the 154^th  birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, an mega statewide youth campaign VIVEK BAND-2017 was successfully began across the state by Samartha Bharata, an organisation  promoting social volunteering among youth.

The campaign event simultaneously started in all districts of Karnataka. Some of the key events are posted here.

The campaign starts with the wearing of a wrist band carrying the message ‘BE GOOD – DO GOOD‘  on January 12^th, 2017, to commemorate the 154th birthday of Swami Vivekananda, which is celebrated as National Youth Day, and lasts for 2 weeks till January 26^th, 2017.

Vivek Band Campaign  aims to reach more than 12 lakh people and let the message serve as a reminder of the immense potential and opportunities that the youth have, to transform their lives and to pledge to build a strong, healthy society. The campaign expects the youth have to pass on the legacy of ‘BE GOOD – DO GOOD’ to more people by indulging in inspiring activities and becoming active role models.

Vivek Bands will be available at several retail outlets across the state from 5^th of January 2017. A detailed list of store locations is available on the website at www.samarthabharata.org and www.vivekband.com

Store Locations: http://samarthabharata.org/vivek-band/store-locations/

In order to make this message available to more youngsters, technology-based forums such as the Samartha Bharata website, social media, Whatsapp and SMS are being used for promoting the Vivek Band campaign. These forums will also be available to those who have chosen to wear the Vivek wrist band for sharing inspirational experiences. Many organisations, educational institutions, cultural associations, youth icons, scientists, sports stars, cine stars etc are endorsing the campaign.

The campaign:

• Wearing Vivek Band with the message ‘BE GOOD – DO GOOD’ on 12^th January
• Involving in a service-oriented i.e. DO GOOD activity between 12^th-26^th January
• Organizing an inspirational talk to spread the spirit of service and nationalism
• Sharing BE GOOD DO GOOD experience on social media with hashtag #VivekBand and other platforms to inspire others. Giving a missed call to 8792662262.
• This year, Samartha Bharata is supporting Corneal Andhatva Mukta Bharata Abhiyan (Corneal Blindness Free Bharat Movement) of SAKSHAMA, an NGO for the specially-challenged. Eye-donation will be promoted as the ‘DO GOOD’ activity for 2017.

India is facing many medico-social challenges. Corneal blindness is one among them. Cornea is an outer most transparent layer of eye, which may be damaged due to many reasons like malnutrition, chemical injury, accident, surgery etc. According to one estimation 2 to 20 lakh population of India is having corneal blindness, which can be cured by corneal transplant. Unfortunately, there is huge scarcity of cornea in the nation. Though every year ~1 crore deaths occur, only 25,000 people are donating their eye for the noble cause. If this number is increased to 4 lakh, Eye banks are established in all states & districts, Cornea specialists are made available at every important place & more importantly the great mass of people is filled with the right awareness about eye donation, we can make India corneal-blindness-free by 2020.