Support Sristi Village

"Your greatness is not what you have, but what you give." -Alice Hocker

For my 23rd birthday, I am fundraising for Sristi Village, a rural farming NGO where I am living and working for 10 months this year. Sristi runs a variety of eco-friendly farms, a primary school, and provides urgent social services to people with developmental disabilities in rural Villuppuram, Tamil Nadu, South India. I will provide a receipt of donation at the end of my tenure & cover the difference of GoFundMe's 2.9% processing fee to ensure 100% of proceeds reach Sristi.

Of the 27 million people with IDDs (think: Autism, Down Syndrome, ADHD, cerebral palsy, and more) in India, 70% live in rural areas and 2/3rd remain unemployed or homebound their entire life. Many live in poverty with chronic pain, face mental health challenges, experience family strife and are subjected to widespread negative social attitudes.

Inspired by spaces like Mitti Cafe, Echoes Cafe, or the Restaurant of Mistaken Orders, Sristi plans to establish a cafe and arts space where people with IDDs can prepare and serve the food harvested from Sristi's farms!

Our goals are twofold: first, to advance the financial independence of people with IDDs and second, to raise greater awareness about their capabilities.

Please consider this an investment in Sristi's vision for what can eventually be a commercially viable, replicable cafe model as opposed to charity for its members. Donations will go towards an in-house bakery training unit at Sristi and initial cafe start-up costs.

If you are interested in following my journey, you can subscribe to blogs I will write here and here. You can also receive newsletters from Sristi here & follow their social media channels here: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube! My work is supported by the American India Foundation's Banyan Impact Fellowship (formerly, William J Clinton Fellowship for Service in India).

---Additional donation logistics---

For Indian Donors (All donations are tax-exempted under section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961):

Name of the Account : Sristi Foundation

Account Number : 33435575197

Name of the Bank : State Bank of India

Branch : Ariyankuppam, Puducherry

Branch code: 16563

BIC/SWIFT code: SBININBB228

IFSC Number : SBIN0016563

For Foreign Donors:

Name of the account: Sristi Foundation

Account Number: 39966172441

Name of the Branch: State Bank of India, New Delhi Main Branch (NDMB)

SWIFT CODE SBININBB104

Branch Code 00691

IFSC Code SBIN0000691

e-Mail ID [E-Mail ausgeblendet].in

Telephone No. [Telefonnummer bearbeitet]4392, 23374390, 23374143, 23374213

Address of the FCRA Cell at NDMB FCRA Cell, 1st Floor, 11, Sansad Marg, New Delhi-110001.

I can accept Venmo @akila29m. If you or your employer would be interested in sponsoring Sristi further (i.e., providing a full day of meals; price-matching my campaign; making tax-deductible large sum donations; or contributing in-kind goods), please let me know! Sristi has worked with companies like Accenture and Dell to provide laptops, online coursework, professional trainings, and more in the past.

Thank you for your generosity and support!