HAKUNA MATATA: Help me make a difference....

Its February and It’s the month I celebrate my birthday, 13^th Feb. I came across this site:http://www.charitywater.org/september/. The concept is:

“We asked our friends to give up their birthdays and ask for donations instead of gifts. We used 100% of the money raised to build water projects. Every year, it got bigger. We've now helped over a million people get clean water.”

I thought it was a brilliant idea. It’s so simple and so effective if every one of us just decide to celebrate our birthdays differently for just once every five years. I have decided to do the same on coming birthday. I would have loved to donate for this organization if they had any projects inIndia but since as they say “Charity begins at home”, I decided to look for something in the country. Something I feel attached to. Something where I want to make a difference.

Through a friend I came in contact with a student organization ‘Mission 5’ which has a brilliant concept of collecting 5 bucks per month from the community and colleges across the city and use the money to supply basic amenities to various NGOs. I fixed up a meeting with the organization Head – Miss Vijaya and I decided to know more about their work.

First and the foremost thing I wanted to ensure was how transparent they were. They maintain it by posting the account of money collected every month and the breakdown of it spend on theirwebsite. You can request for the report file anytime from its members.

With them, I visited: Kannada Adarsha Mahila Makkala Samsthe [KAMMS] which is an orphanage in Bangalore and presently it’s a home for 30 kids. The guy who started it is such an amazing guy. He started this place when he found 3 children on the roadside who lost their parents in tsunami in 2004. Since then he has moved only forward with his commitments. It was such an amazing experience seeing a complete family dedicated for this cause.

spent an evening with those children and I had never felt the way I felt in those 3 hours. The smiles on their faces, the innocence in their eyes, their carefree laugh can make anyone attached to them. The children are going to a decent school in the neighborhood and the food is not a major concern too, thanks to mission 5 and other generous donors. But the main concern is the place where they are living. Right now the orphanage is very small with only two rooms for the 30 children. Mission 5 is taking up the charge of the construction of orphanage in the coming march. Government formalities have been completed. An architect from Pune has offered his services for the cause. The construction will start soon.

So this coming birthday I have decided to accept all the gifts in cash only and along with it, I would donate 5k – as birthday treat money to the organization. This Birthday, Please help me make a difference. Please give me gift in cash on 13^th Feb. I will keep you updated with the developments and will be your contact point if you need any clarification regarding anything about this project.

Here is my account number:

HDFC KODAMBAKKAM-CHENNAI

IFSC Code - 0574

Savings Account No.: 05741140015394

You can give me cheque as well. I am not going to accept any gift in kind this year. So please give me cash. Any Amount will do. I know you might not be willing; you might not know me but Trust me you will be helping in a cause with dire need.

Facts about Mission 5:

MISSION 5' is a registered charitable institution under Govt. of Karnataka [Reg no. - KRI-4-00228-2008-09].
Application for Income Tax Exemption on Donations under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act is underway.
Watch 'MISSION 5' on CNN-IBN : http://ibnlive.in.com/news/cj-group-mission-5-use-rs-5-donations-for-social-causes/57451-20.html