Wish Trees granting wishes put up in Kolkata

Around 30 real and artificial trees, named Wish Trees, have been

placed at various locations here as a part of Joy of Giving Week celebrations. They lets people put up their wishes on the trees, which are voluntarily fulfilled by individuals or organisations.

The Oct 2-8 Joy of Giving Week is a volunteer-driven concept started in 2009. It encourages citizens to give and contribute - be it time, money, resources, skills or any form of giving. The idea is to bring cheer to the needy and less privileged.

"There is no blueprint of giving. It can be anything. Last year 70 cities participated. For the past two years the Wish Tree concept has been brought in and this is the first time we are introducing it in Kolkata," Sara Adhikari, a volunteer told IANS.

The Wish Tree idea enables NGOs to put up wishes on the trees, depending upon the organisation's requirements. Corporates, organisations and individuals are encouraged to fulfill a particular wish.

"It could be clothes for a particular NGO who works with children or it could be stationery or money. Last year a tree yielded an average of 30,000 granted wishes," said Adhikari.

Malls like the Avani Riverside and hotels including ITC Sonar have put up their trees while activities like heritage walks, cinema screening for the old, and cleanup of Lions Safari Park at Rabindra Sarobar by the NGO Garbage Free India have organised across the week.