It is with a heavy heart that we share the tragic news of the loss of our colleague, Sudhir Kumar, who passed away on 25th April 2021 after battling illness for a couple of weeks.  Sudhir was a member of the CRS/India family for almost 8 years.  He joined in 2013 as a project officer on the IRRAS livelihoods project that promoted increased productivity of rice, wheat, and legumes for over 2,000 farmers across 4 districts.  His strong performance resulted in his promotion to project coordinator in 2015, and recently was managing a project that is reducing the risk of trafficking and unsafe migration for 3,800 children.  Motivated by a personal goal to "serve for the betterment of humanity with sustainability,” Sudhir was a team member who best reflected the agency’s values and guiding principles.  I was honored to join the India country team for a call this afternoon remembering him, where colleagues recalled him as one of the hardest-working, yet softest-spoken.  Kind-hearted and positive-thinking,   Sudhir is survived by his wife Bandana, and their two young children—Mithi and little “Babu”. 

While we will keep Sudhir's young family in our thoughts and prayers, we also recognize that they face a challenging, uncertain future ahead of them.  As such, friends and colleagues of Sudhir are organizing this fundraising campaign with the goal of raising at least US$5,000 (~375,000 Indian rupees), 100% of which will be handed over to Bandana.  Please join us in donating to this cause to help ensure a bright future for Mithi and Babu.