World of Children® is an organization dedicated to setting the gold standard in child advocacy. The organization introduced a new class of honorees, including Sri Arunodayam’s Founder – Iyyappan Subramaniyan, who won this year’s World of Children Humanitarian Award.

Iyyappan and the four other honorees received their awards at a special function in New York City, USA,  on the 27th October 2016. These honorees are considered to be extraordinary real-life heroes who tirelessly work to dramatically improve the lives of children.

This year’s honorees were chosen from a pool of several thousand nominations for this year’s Awards. Nominations are reviewed by an International Committee of volunteers and issue experts. The candidates are investigated by an independent international firm to ensure their programs are of the highest caliber.

Iyyappan was selected for his work with children living with intellectual and developmental disabilities. When he was just 21 years old, Iyyappan decided to do something to help these children, so, he founded Sri Arunodayam Charitable Trust to provide the first home in Tamil Nadu dedicated to caring for, protecting, and rehabilitating abandoned children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  Fourteen years later, it is a state-certified reception facility for abandoned children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The children living at Sri Arunodayam receive food, shelter, clothing, medical care, and developmentally appropriate education and rehabilitation programs. Most of all, they regain what they have lost – a home and a family.