DARPAN SALUTES
Providing Nutrition to Kids in Need
CUDDLES FOUNDATION A
ccording to a report by the Indian Cancer Society in Delhi, it is estimated that about 50,000 children and adolescents ages 0 to 19 years are diagnosed with cancer each year. This is where the NGO Cuddles Foundation steps in. Located primarily in Pune, Raipur, and Mumbai - Cuddles Nutrition Centers are active in 33 hospitals across India including TATA Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, AIIMS in Delhi, amongst others.
By Mrinalini Sundar Cuddles Foundation believes that food heals. It works to provides children undergoing cancer treatment with food, hot meals, nutritional supplements and ration baskets as per their need and requirement.
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Reflecting The South-Asian Lifestyle
What do they do? According to the Cuddles website, it says, their vision is to give every
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child fighting cancer a chance to survive it. They are a child centric organization - which means - if faced with a decision between budgets and the survival of a child, they choose the latter, always. They work through partnerships with government and charitable hospitals that treat underprivileged children for cancer.” Cuddles have nutritionists, trained specifically for pediatric cancer nutrition, who are placed in government hospitals to monitor a child’s progress, create diet plans and nutritional charts, counsel their parents and educate them in homebased nutrition. Cuddles even provides children undergoing treatment with food, hot meals, nutritional supplements and ration baskets as per their need and requirement so that these children have the strength to fight their cancer. After all Cuddles believes that food heals. How do they decide which hospitals to work with? Well, the requirement of a community, the inflow of patients and the extent of malnourishment are some of the primary reasons in deciding where Cuddles chooses to work. They also make sure to work with hospitals that have been working in the field of oncology for years and demonstrate a deep knowledge and commitment to the cause.
Areas of work: Cuddles works in the country - from West, East, North, and South. They have collaborated with hospitals such as Tata Memorial Hospital (Mumbai), Bai Jerbai Wadia (Mumbai), Sion
