With the motto, Youth Building Youth, Spread Smile Foundation strives to make a difference in the field of education, health, environment, and sanitation for underprivileged women, children & their families.

The NGO has been at the forefront since 2019 to uplift the marginalised section of society. What started with educating ten children in a nearby park is now impacting 7860+ lives with the help of 480+ volunteers in pan India. Spread Smile Foundation is substantiating its name in all respects.

Nitin Jain, the Founder of the NGO envisions transforming as many lives as he can. He believes as long as poverty, injustice & inequality persist, none of us can truly rest. Let’s see what he says about SSF’s accomplishments and its next goals.

What inspired you to find Spread Smile Foundation?

During my undergraduate degree, I involved myself in an NGO, Manav Milan Society, where I participated in organising various events for elderly and disabled citizens. However, the major change came after my undergraduate degree, when I became more observant of my surroundings which made me realise my privileges and forced me to reflect on my life. I understood how education has widened my thought process compared to the older generations in my family and how critical education plays a pivotal role in shaping society as a whole. Following this, I interacted with a lot of children from underprivileged sections and read articles concerning this. This made me rethink my career path and then I decided to work in the social welfare sector with a focus on education. Hence, I founded Spread Smile Foundation in 2019 to put my thoughts into action.

What were the challenges you faced while incepting NGO and how did you overcome them?

Owing to the lack of exposure and mentorship, I think the most challenging thing was to keep myself and my team motivated even on the days when we had no place to teach. But I took it positively in all aspects as this gave me the freedom to find my way of exploring this sector.

How is your NGO making a difference in society? Shed light on the most successful program.

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I believe that our most successful program is the project ‘Vidyaphal’, in which we provide both informal and formal education to children from marginalised communities. But nothing great comes easy. To convince parents to send their girl child to classes and break the patriarchal mindset was a tough row to hoe. For this, we went door to door and consistently tried to convince them to send their girl child for the classes. We finally succeeded in bringing positive change in their attitude. Our work is mostly concentrated in Sonipat (a small town in Haryana), therefore, I believe this is the biggest impact we made through our work.

Which is your best reward for choosing to found your NGO? How far have you come?

I once read somewhere, we are that positive vibe we are searching for in others. I didn’t understand this then but when I look at this again now, it makes more sense to me. This is what I think my biggest reward for founding the NGO is, believing in myself and the change the collective effort can bring towards society.

We started with just ten students with just one person in Jan 2019. Now we are a family of approximately 30+ interns and 250+ students to whom we provide education. There is a saying that when you want something too badly, the whole universe conspires to help you achieve it. Moved by our work, the government gave us a community centre on lease to teach students so that we don’t have to teach them in parks anymore. We recently painted the walls of the community centre with graffiti to make it more pleasing for the students.

How is Spread Smile Foundation heading towards its expansion?

You learn to get better with each passing day. There is always room for improvement. We are planning to expand the NGO and improve its services. We have recently opened our branches in Delhi, Noida, Chandigarh and Mohali where the past interns from our main Sonipat branch are leading the work. We have also opened free dispensary services which provide primary healthcare services free of charge to everyone. We have been seeking mentorship from retired and currently working school teachers, principals and university professors to ensure quality education for future generations.