Youth Raise Money to Support Education for Rural Indian Children

Through the New England Crowdfunding Challenge 

From June 1 – 21, the American India Foundation (AIF) held its first-ever New England Crowdfunding Challenge. During this three-week crowdfunding campaign, 41 high school students, college students, and young professionals raised $22,641 for AIF’s Learning and Migration Program (LAMP) through personalized online fundraising pages, dramatically surpassing the original goal of $6,000. The funds from this campaign will provide children of Indian migrant workers with a quality education.

Participants hailed from all over the U.S. and India, as well as other regions of South and Southeast Asia. The top fundraisers for the campaign were high school students Arya and Diya Anand from Andover, MA. The sisters each raised an impressive $3,340.

“The AIF New England Challenge made raising money an enjoyable experience. It made me want to do and raise more for the cause. LAMP is an incredible program and it was a privilege to be able to take part in such a successful campaign.”- Arya Anand

“When I saw the video and learned what this was about, I got really inspired to participate in the campaign. Then, so much motivation and inspiration came from the campaign itself. To see how many people were actually interested in donating and taking their time to watch the video and read about it, is what really inspired me to do my best and raise as much money as I could.” - Diya Anand

Other top fundraisers included Shrunothra Ambati, a high school student from Marlboro, MA who raised $3,021; Indian Youth Group, a group of high school students part of the Indian Society of Worcester, MA, who raised $2,405; and India Project, a group of high school students from Darien High School in Darien, CT who raised $1,800.

On June 25, the campaign culminated with a celebration event that celebrated and the efforts of all participants. Dr. Sanjiv Chopra, Professor of Medicine and Faculty Dean for Continuing Medical Education at Harvard Medical School spoke on the qualities of leadership and congratulated the young students. He remarked, “I was most energized and inspired by these young people who have already shown such extraordinary leadership and make us have the conviction that the future of AIF is dazzlingly bright!”

“This was our first campaign using social media in the Boston Chapter, and we were amazed at the passion and energy of these young people. Our goal at AIF is to also inspire them to be thinking deeply about social issues and enable them to help less fortunate children through LAMP” – Nirmala Garimella, New England Chapter Manager

One hundred percent of the proceeds from the campaign will go towards providing quality education to the children of rural migrants through LAMP.

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