Kiehl’s #SchoolNaChhoote CSR campaign will nudge marginalised kids back to school

Global skincare brand Kiehl’s has stepped up to social responsibility and joined hands with CRY (Child Rights & You) to bring a change. CRY has launched a bridge course programme, wherein children studying in classes VI – XII in marginalized communities are enabled to reconnect with education and given the necessary nudge to go back to school.

Since the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, over 1.5 million schools have shut down affecting nearly 2.47 million children enrolled in elementary and secondary schools in India. With an ever increasing dropout rate, child labour in vulnerable communities is at an all-time high. Kiehl’s recognises that intervention to ensure children’s education is the need of the hour and has hence volunteered to facilitate fundraising for the bridge course programme.

Under the CSR initiative children are supported to cope with their studies and stay in school, further reducing the rate of dropping out, child labour and child marriage. The bridge course programme is run using digital tablets that are allotted to qualified teachers. These study sessions, attended by groups of children from the same or neighboring villages, aim to equip children with the necessary skills and encourage the re-joining and resuming of studies.

As part of the CSR initiative to Make Life Brighter With Kiehl’s, the brand hosted a fundraising event yesterday at CRY’s R. K. Puram branch in New Delhi. The event included an arts and crafts competition for children supported by CRY and the winning artwork will be printed on Kiehl’s thank you cards.

These thank you cards will be distributed to customers with each purchase and will enable them to donate to CRY. The thank you cards will contain a QR code linking them to the donation page, making it easy and accessible to help make life better with Kiehl’s.

Talking about this association with CRY, Santosh Kumar, DGM, Kiehl’s India, said, “The festive season is a time for love, light and celebration. However, it is also a time to reflect on our blessings and give back to society in any way that we can. Children’s education is an essential determiner of their future and we must do all that we can to ensure that they get the schooling they deserve. CRY is doing a remarkable job with this bridge course and we are honored to be able to contribute our time and effort to this cause.”

Adding to this, Soha Moitra, Regional Director CRY said, “Closure of schools during pandemic has adversely affected learning of children. It has increased persisting inequalities and deepen the already existing learning crisis amongst children. Our #SchoolNaChhoote campaign aims to ensure that children from underserved families do not drop out of school due to the pandemic led economic crisis being faced by their families. CRY has persistently working to extend educational support to our children and it has been possible with the support of community at large. Kiehl’s has taken on an incredible initiative to help raise funds for the bridge course and we are delighted to be partnering with a socially responsible brand like theirs.”

Since its inception in India, the brand has continued to work at the local level to support organizations in the community. Kiehl’s believes in the saying ‘better skin leads better community’ and has partnered with organizations such as CRY, Teach for India and Autism Centre for Excellence (ACE) over the years. This association with CRY for the #SchoolNaChhoote initiative will enlighten the masses of this important and urgent cause and enable the organization to support children’s education for years to come.

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