American India Foundation – Light a Lamp Campaign (2015 – 2024)

AIF is a non-profit organization helping underprivileged and underserved communities in India. AIF has raised more than $118 million and impacted about 5.6 million lives from across 24 states of India( www.aif.org ).

Sanah and Sanya have been supporting and creating awareness for the Learning and Migration Program (LAMP) campaign for underprivileged children’s education since 2015 as AIF Youth Ambassadors

Some LAMP Programs and initiatives:

  • Supporting Adolescent Girls
  • Promoting STEM Education in Learning Resource Centers
  • Nurturing Tribal Children
  • Running Seasonal Hostels
 
Completed multiple fundraisers helping raise over $15,000 which provided education and educational enrichment STEM programs to over 600 children of migrant workers in India.
 
The sisters raised over $2600 in the recent (2023-2024) AIF Light a Lamp Fundraiser –  https://my.aif.org/fundraiser/5100015 
 

As Captains/Team Leaders for the AIF New England Chapter 2021-2022 Light a Lamp Campaign, their team raised $5861.

Their second fundraiser completed in ( 2017-2018 )and they raised $4265 – https://my.aif.org/sanyasanah 

Their first fundraiser raised over $3,200 for the Light a Lamp Campaign (2014-2015) 

Sanya and Sanah also volunteer every year for the New England AIF Gala in Boston which raises nearly a million dollars each year to support philanthropic programs in India.

Every summer the girls have been visiting and creating awareness for the different work done at the AIF ABLE sites in India – like the National Association of the Blind, Deeds Catering Institute, ICICI foundation etc.

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Help Educate during Covid-19 & Beyond (2020 – 2024)

The recent coronavirus outbreak has created a lot of uncertainties and disrupted education with school closures for several children nationwide. With schools going online it has become a challenge for parents to multitask with their work and manage their child’s learning. This initiative helps students whose parents are essential workers and those facing hardships during covid-19. This program helps students with their school homework, provides enrichment in a particular subject area they are interested in or just some social interaction outside their home. Currently there are over 28 High School student volunteers who have signed up with the program to provide free tutoring to elementary and middle school children.

Please email sanyasanahgoenka@gmail.com to sign up for free lessons or to volunteer your services to the program.

www.hometownweekly.com/sisters-announce-pandemic-initiatives

www.lokvani.com/lokvani/article

Help Educate partners with Girls Inc. Worcester, MA to provide free remote tutoring services to girls in Greater Worcester area.

After 100 years, Girls Inc. of Worcester continues to inspire all girls to be strong (healthy), smart (educated), and bold (independent).  Girls Inc. provides more than 1,000 girls in Greater Worcester with life-changing experiences and real solutions to the unique challenges girls face.  By offering researched-based programming, girls learn to set and achieve goals, overcome obstacles, resist peer pressure, see college as attainable, and explore nontraditional fields such as STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).  

Book Drive for Biden-Harris Presidential Inaugural Committee National Day of Service ( 2021 )

Help Empower is participating in the Biden-Harris Presidential Inaugural Committee’s National Day of Service ( https://bideninaugural.org/day-of-service/) with a Book Drive for underprivileged children in the Boston area. Accepting engaging and culturally diverse books ( new or gently used ) appropriate for children ages 8-12years.

Help Empower – Book Drive for Children · Presidential Inaugural Committee (mobilize.us)

Help Empower – Book Drive for Children · Presidential Inaugural Committee (mobilize.us)

Help Thank our Healthcare Heroes Campaign for COVID-19 (2020)

We are currently fundraising to thank healthcare workers on the frontline by donating meals to Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Boston Children’s Hospital and workers at other local hospitals. Our medical workers are working tirelessly and putting their own health at risk while taking care of covid infected patients. During this time local restaurants are also suffering from layoffs and closures due to the lockdown. Several local restaurants are willing to provide delicious meals to healthcare workers at the above hospitals for just $10.

Raised over $2800 to provide 250 meals to Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston, MA.

Any donation big or small is greatly appreciated! 

You can contribute through this MightyCause page: visit https://mtyc.co/hlebvf to support.

Youth Ambassador Projects

Our Youth Ambassador Mentorship Program & Projects:

Food Drive for Centre St. Pantry
The Centre St. Food Pantry in Newton, MA ( www.centrestfoodpantry.org ) works tirelessly  to end hunger and provides households that need help with pre-packed grocery bags of…
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Making Inspirational Note Cards for Women's Lunch Place in Boston
About Women’s Lunch Place (https://womenslunchplace.org): WLP welcomes about 250 women each day, most of whom have experienced trauma, abuse, and…
Read More

Awareness & Pen Pal Program

Created awareness through presentations and speeches for the AIF – Light a Lamp campaign at Buckingham, Brown and Nichols school, Wellesley Public school and community events like IFNET Newton Diwali Ball etc. Volunteered

 http://www.lokvani.com/lokvani/article.php?article_id=11814&utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=email_this&utm_source=email

Sanya started the Pen Pal program in Grade 5 by connecting underprivileged children of migrant workers in India with her classmates at BB&N school in Cambridge, MA. Sanya felt that she should continue to create more awareness and educate the kids in her class about the lives and realities of the children in India and how they can help them.

Through the Pen Pal program, the kids from her 5th grade class made postcards and wrote about themselves and their lives/hobbies etc. Her class teacher too wrote a letter for the teacher in India.
These postcards were then mailed by AIF in Boston to the AIF chapter in India. 

Below is the link to the article in the local MA newspaper:

http://www.lokvani.com/lokvani/article.php?article_id=11481&utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=email_this&utm_source=email

Bicycle & Book Donation Drive

Every summer the girls have visited, volunteered and raised funds for various necessities like Bicycles, books etc. for underprivileged girls at the Smt. Radhadevi Goenka Public School and the RDG College for Women in Akola. Some of the students were walking nearly an hour each way to get to school as they did not have any proper mode of transportation and money. The donation of bicycles helped cut down their travel time and gave them more energy to spend on education.

Cataract – Eye Operation Camps (2012 – 2015)

Raised Funds and distributed food, clothing to patients at the Cataract eye camps organized in Akola, India. A mere $25 helps to restore eyesight to a poor person. They were able to fundraise and provide cataract operations to over 200 people in under-resourced communities. These camps gave the gift of eyesight to underserved poor communities who would have gone without care and suffered from blindness all their lives.
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Orthopedic & Limb Surgeries Camps (2010/ 2011)

Volunteered and raised funds to be provide free limb corrective surgeries and prosthetic limbs to over 50 disable children at the Orthopedic Camps in Akola, India. Our mission was to provide these children who had lost their limbs in accidents or those born with congenital defects the ability to improve their mobility and thereby improve their lives. The parents of these children were unable to afford these expensive surgeries on their own.
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