Chennai gears up for the Joy of Giving week

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A saree of actor Suhasini Maniratnam was auctioned for a price higher than a fancy saree of Aishwarya Rai here last year. The money generated went to charity. Perhaps, the rich in Chennai have valued cause more than fame.

Organisers of Joy of Giving (JoG) week, which starts on Tuesday, are expecting a similar patronage this year when they auction pre-owned handbags (of Channel and Prada range) of stars like Trisha, Khushboo and Radhika to raise funds to help the needy.

Battle of Buffet (BoB), another JoG fundraiser, would offer well-off Chennaiites an opportunity to taste yummy recipes prepared by chefs of leading hotels in the city under one roof at Chennai Trade Centre on October 6.

Announcing the start of “cook for a cause”, actor Suhasini Maniratnam said, “Battle of Buffet is a miracle. It is difficult to connect people who want help and people who want to help.

The help we offer should go to really deserving people without any middlemen. Joy of Giving is all about that.”

The organisers are expecting to raise Rs 2 crore this year, against last years Rs 85 lakh, through a plethora of events to be hosted to the well-off Chennaiites for a week from Gandhi Jayanthi.

The fundraiser also includes a 1,000 kg and 100meter long ‘photocake’ depicting musical maestro Ilayaraja’s journey from Annakili to his latest flick Neethaane En Ponvasantham would be printed on the cake.

Chefs of French Loaf will unveil the cake at Express Avenue mall at 4pm on Tuesday, said M Mahadevan, CMD, Oriental Cuisines Pvt Ltd and founder of Chennai Mission. Each kilo of the cake would be priced at Rs 1,500.

Fund raised from the photocake would be donated to NGOs, Ekam Foundation and Dean Foundation.

Singers Sudha Raghunathan and Srinivas, who took part in today’s announcement, said that they would perform live during the event at Trade Center. The money generated from the event will be distributed to 68 NGOs in and around the city.