Couple-to-be to divert gifts for kids fighting cancer

HYDERABAD: In a novel initiative, a man and his fiancé have decided to raise funds to support children fighting cancer. The prospective groom, Karamchati Sriharsha, a software engineer and his bride-to-be Anjana, a paediatrician, have requested the guests at their wedding to donate money to kids fighting cancer instead of gifts or flowers.

“We have set up a link where the public can donate money, which went live on Wednesday evening,” said Sriharsha, adding that it was a mutual decision by the couple. Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Sriharsha, alumnus of the International Institute of Information Technology in Hyderabad (IIIT-H), said that he and his fiancé, Anjana, who are getting married on Thursday, decided to help the kids battling cancer at the Basavatarakam Indo American Cancer Hospital through this initiative.

“I work as a software professional and Anjana is a paediatrician. During the pandemic, through our ‘Covid War Room’ initiative, we helped about 1,400 emergency cases by raising over Rs 50 lakh to help those in need. The success of the Covid War Room, which had around 500 volunteers working in 12 different time zones, lies in the transparency and effective communication which attracted passionate donors all across the world. Since my cousin works with goodclap, a platform for crowdfunding, we now decided to request our guests to donate funds for kids fighting cancer instead of gifting us,” he said.

“We are delighted that you will be joining us for the wedding. We are fortunate to have wonderful family & friends like you. Your love and blessings mean everything to us. We would love for our wedding to support a cause we care about dearly and one that will have a positive impact on few lives. If you are thinking of buying us a gift or flowers for our wedding, we request that you instead contribute to the children getting treated at 'Basavatarakam Indo American Cancer Hospital.' lots of care, Anjana Siharsha’ (sic) read the overview on the fundraising platform, which has already raised Rs 16,500 by Wednesday evening against the target of Rs 5 lakh.