Sun Life Asia Service Centre India collaborates with Akshaya Patra Foundation
Sun Life Asia Service Centre (ASC) India is the Global In-house Centre of Sun Life Financial. Based at Gurugram, Asia Service Centre India (ASCI) employs more than 1900+ people. ASCI provides Business Operations, Technology, and Knowledge Services support to Sun Life’s global financial & insurance businesses. ASC India is committed to the health and well-being of the community around it, with its present focus on combatting COVID-19 and helping the underserved in this hour of pandemic.
The outbreak of COVID-19 and the consequent lockdown had posed a serious threat to the survival and well-being of the underserved sections of the society like daily labour, migrant workers and slum dwelling communities.
In order to address this grave concern, Sun Life ASCI extended CSR Fund support of INR 3,366,600/- to the Akshaya Patra Foundation towards its COVID-19 Relief Efforts. This amount was used to provide 4000+ grocery kits to vulnerable families across India in the months of June-September 2020. Each grocery box could support a family of 2 for approximately 21 days. The box included essential items such as rice, salt, dal, oil, masala powder, pickle, sugar, wheat flour, soap, etc. This project impacted more than 8000 people in need. Further, ASCI employees voluntarily donated INR 200,000/- towards COVID Relief- Feeding Program of the Foundation in the month of April 2020. These funds were utilized by the Foundation to provide approximately 8000 cooked meals to migrant workers and people living in COVID affected communities.
Commenting on the initiative, Shantanu Kodesia, Head-Operations & Enablement, Sun Life ASC India says, “The purpose of ASC India’s CSR initiatives is to engage with the communities we live in as responsible employees. The pandemic has led us to our bit in battling the impact of COVID-19 towards underserved sections of our society. Our partnership with The Akshaya Patra Foundation has helped us provide nutritious food to the deprived during this difficult time.”
In another initiative, ASC India donated care package supplies for 25 families in partnership with Harmony House NGO in Gurugram. These supplies included vital grocery ingredients and hygiene provisions, sufficient for about 15 days for a family of 4 members along with educational goods for 25 children.
Also, the Company donated sanitation and cleaning supplies to Navjyoti India Foundation in Gurugram to support the Foundation’s efforts in preventing the spread of COVID-19. Both the donations were funded through employee volunteering activities. The donation of sanitizers, gloves, masks, liquid soap, mops etc. enabled the Navjoti India Foundation to maintain its office premises while ensuring the safety of their staff, volunteers and beneficiaries. Ujala Bedi Chaudhary, Executive Director, Navjyoti India Foundation, says, “We thank Sun Life ASC India for their exceedingly generous support. Our association will indeed go a long way in changing the lives of people in need.”