Joy to the World JACQUELINE FERNANDEZ
Harper’s Bazaar: What inspired you to launch the YOLO Foundation?
Jacqueline Fernandez: The ‘You Only Live Once’ (YOLO) Foundation—which is a platform to inspire people to do good, become aware of their rights, help animals, and share stories of kindness—has been a lifelong dream. In fact, it was part of my New Year’s resolutions for 2021. I am a firm believer in the adage ‘You only live once’, but I used to believe that it only translated into living your life to the fullest, partying it up, and chasing your goals… I still believe that these pursuits are great, but over the years, I also began to question whether living a good life should also include giving back to society. That, to me, equals the ultimate, fulfilled life. So finally, I managed to launch YOLO in February, and we immediately set things in motion. However, when the second pandemic wave hit us, I realised that I needed to work on Covid-related issues first, and that is what we jumped into straight away.
HB: You served meals to the needy, in the middle of the pandemic…
The intention was to provide immediate relief. One of the things we discovered was that there were many who were starving, or just not being able to afford food. So, we tied up with the Roti Bank, that provides lakhs of families with food. Together, we collected funds and were able to feed nearly one lakh people. I undertook two drives to spread the word about the organisation and raise funds. I
