Emphasises Anuroop (Tony) Singh, senior vice-president and head-India Retail Bank, ``We consciously decided to focus on SOS.'' Senior bank executives were quite impressed with the SOS concept of eight or nine girls and boys living with their designated mother in a cottage in a village. Each village has 10-20 such cottages, each comprising three rooms for the children, a room for the mother, a living room, a kitchen and a garden. Children attend local schools, thereby also integrating with the mainstream.

Started in 1964 to support orphans and abandoned children, SOS has 32 children's villages today,housing 15,000 children. Besides, it has undertaken 118 health, family welfare and education projects, benefitting over two lakh people. ``It's the response of a living community to homeless children,'' says J N Koul, president, SOS.

And for BankAm, the partnership is in keeping with its corporate citizenry policy worldwide. Following faithfully the MoU it signed with SOS in March 1996, the bank contributes 25 paise for every BOA cheque issued by its customers. And pennies, as they say, do add up into lakhs of rupees. Last time, the sum, which is to be paid every quarterly, added up to Rs 1.89 lakh. Money is also raised through other means. Donor boxes have been kept at various branches. The bank has also provided SOS with 400 sponsors and donors. Besides, the bank offers SOS its database for direct mailing campaigns.

Yet another interesting, fund-raising technique that the bank has employed is to rent out some space at its New Delhi branch premises to an art gallery, Antakharan, which donates part ofits sale proceeds to SOS. The bank also helps SOS informally to devise strategies to raise funds. SOS can even fall back up on the bank's services. Recently, the bank agreed to process SOS' foreign remittances without any service charge.

Even staff members are encouraged to contribute in their individual capacities. ``The bank has a humane face. It is an example of a good corporate citizen,'' says Koul. As part of its MoU obligations, SOS submits its annual accounts to BankAm, and informs it about any major policy changes. ``But we don't want to interfere. SOS is a transparent organisation. We trust them,'' Singh is quick to point out. The admiration may be mutual, but it's genuine.

The partnership isn't exclusionary for either organisation. From time to time, the bank has contributed to other causes such as the Mumbai MCD for its Pulse Polio Immunisation Programme, the Children's Orthopaedic Hospital in Mumbai and Dr Shroff's Eye Hospital also in Mumbai. While scanning the requests, the bank isparticular about the credibility of an organisation, and the difference it has made to a cause that is close to the bank, like education, health and environment, etc.

Similarly, SOS has tie-ups with corporates such as Unicorp Computers, American Express, Bank of Baroda, Raunaq Enterprises, Ambassador Coolers, the Dalmia group and Shriram Fertilisers. The list may be long, but the task at hand is also gigantic.