Help Kiran Reunite with her Family

My name is Rachel, and the woman in this photo is who I've always called my second Mom. She is one of the most selfless people I've come to know in my lifetime, and this fundraiser is an attempt to pay some of that back to her.

Please take your time to read her story below, and if you're able, support her family's trip back to India:

At 19 and with very little English, Kiran immigrated to the US from India on a Student Visa to live with my parents and study when I was 1 year old. The only direct family connection she had here was my Father.

Four years later, my family was blindsided by a terrible tragedy - we lost my Father within a week, widowing my Mother with 4 very young children. She was left with an impossible situation and crippled with fear about our future and how we'd survive.

But Kiran believed in family values and held them above all else. Kiran sacrificed her own life to help my Mother raise the 4 of us. Kiran was my anchor to half of my identity as an Indian American. She showed us and nurtured our cultural roots, food, and spiritual diversity. When not attending college classes, she watched us when my Mom had to work 12 hour shifts at the hospital. She helped me with my English homework despite it being her third language. She promised my Father she would always take care of us like her own, and she's never wavered on that promise.

Painfully, it took over 30 years for the US Immigration System to recognize her journey.

3-0 years of paperwork, expensive fees, and immigration lawyers. 30 years of calling this country her home, paying taxes, building a business, building a home, and having two beautiful sons of her own.

After those long 30 years, yesterday, our family could finally celebrate for her. On September 20th, 2023, Kiran was granted her Green Card by the United States.

This is life changing for Kiran and her family. For the first time in over 30 years, Kiran will be able to return to her birth country and reunite with the family she hasn't been able to see since she left at 19. Over the years of waiting, she had to painfully let her Father pass without being able to say goodbye in person.

Kiran now has a chance to go to India with her entire family to reunite with her Mother and the rest of our family while they are still here with us. I promised Kiran my entire life that I would make this journey with her when she was able to, and it is FINALLY happening in December 2023!

Kiran has given so much to everyone and everything around her all her life, it's time the world gives something back.

This fundraiser is to raise funds to cover the airfare/travel costs for her journey back to India with her Husband and two sons. This is a surprise I am planning for her upcoming birthday in November!

All funds will be routed to my (Rachel's) account for now, once we surprise her as a family, 100% of the funds raised in this fundraiser will be transferred to Kiran directly.

Thank you for taking the time to read about her journey, and please pay her kindness back to her if you're able. Family means everything to her.

She has been waiting for this opportunity for the majority of her lifetime and I can't think of anyone more deserving of our love!