Patients at the respite home run by the Spastics Society of Sikkim in Gangtok. Picture by Prabin Khaling

Gangtok, Oct. 26: Indian football captain Bhaichung Bhutia has volunteered to become the brand ambassador of the Spastics Society of Sikkim to raise funds for physically and mentally challenged people in the state.

The soccer icon has appealed to the people of Sikkim to donate money so that the society can increase the intake of patients at its respite home in Gangtok.

The player said he would request his friend and actor John Abraham to join the fund-raising campaign.

The society is an NGO based in Gangtok and has been working since 1997 for the welfare of people who are mentally retarded or affected by cerebral palsy, autism and multiple disabilities.

The NGO is also the state nodal agency for welfare schemes taken up by the National Trust of India, an autonomous body under the central ministry of social justice.

Apart from the 15-bedded respite home, the society also runs a day care centre with an intake of 40 children at its four-storied building at Development Area here.

Bhaichung visited the society building on Sunday afternoon and interacted with the members of the NGO for almost an hour to find ways and means to generate more funds.

“The society has been doing a great service despite funds crunch. I visited the place for the first time and was touched by the activities of the society which works silently and genuinely,” said Bhaichung before leaving Gangtok on Sunday evening.

The player expressed his interest in increasing the number of beds at the respite home from 15 to 30.“For this, we need a good amount of money and I earnestly request all the people of Sikkim to come forward and contribute towards this noble cause,” said Bhaichung. He also readily accepted the proposal to become the brand ambassador of the society.

“I will request my friend and Bollywood actor John Abraham to join the fund-raising mission,” said the player.

The founder general secretary of the society, B.P. Dhakal, thanked Bhaichung for showing a keen interest in the welfare of the physically and mentally challenged children in Sikkim.

“We have only 15 beds at the respite home and patients can be treated for three months on a rotational basis. After three months, the patients are sent back home and another batch is taken,” said Dhakal.

The day care centre caters for children from in and around Gangtok. They are brought in a bus provided by the state transport department in the morning and taken back in the evening. The children are looked after by trained personnel.

Dhakal said the society met its expenses from the annual grant of Rs 2.5 lakh given by the Sikkim government and contributions from individuals.

This is not the first time that Bhaichung has come forward for a cause. In November, he donated Rs 50,000 each to Mayalmu Sangh and Sikkim Human Development Foundation, two NGOs based in Gangtok.

The sum was a portion of the cash prize won by Bhaichung in Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, a reality dance show. Bhaichung had also contributed Rs 2 lakh for Cyclone Aila victims and Rs 1 lakh for people hit by landslides in Darjeeling last year.