Inspired by the groundbreaking work done by Robin Hood in New York city, Kolkata Foundation was created as a platform to unite the global diaspora from the city of Kolkata (former Calcutta) in India to effect change in the lives of the underprivileged in the city.
Most of us who have spent a part of our lives in Kolkata, keep going back! Indelible memories of its inimitable charm, the warmth of its people or maybe just a sense of obligation keeps an indestructible bond in place.
And yet, Kolkata is home to some of India’s poorest slums, with over 3 million living under $1/day. Dasra reports over 70% of sex trafficking victims in India originate from around the suburbs of the city.
To positively impact 250,000 lives by 2024, supporting disadvantaged children and families through education, women’s empowerment and healthcare.
We are very proud of the organizations that we have selected to support (these were selected from over 200+ non-profits that were reviewed in partnership with Kolkata Gives). See the impact of your donations first hand when you visit Kolkata and check on the work they are doing. Follow along their stories on our Facebook page and through our periodic newsletter.
| Impact | NGO | Background | 2019/2020 Commitment |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1 to treat a poor patient and provide free medicines for a week | Rural Healthcare Foundation | RHCF provides primary healthcare for poor patients. Over the past 10 years they have treated over 1.7 million patients and received 20+ national and international awards; they are the subject of Harvard and Yale business school studies on frugal innovation. | $20K to provide medicines for 60,000 poor patients |
| $25/year – A slum kid is educated in an English medium school. | Samaritan Help Mission | Samaritan Mission runs an English medium school for 5000 (growing to 8000) underprivileged children in an extremely impoverished slum; their founder, Mamoon Akhtar, who never finished high school due to lack of money, converted a dilapidated building built by Jewish settlers 150 years ago into a vibrant school, while helping transform an entire community. He is now working to build a second school for 3000 children and Kolkata Foundation is looking to support the operational costs for this second school. | $25K to educate 1000 children for a full year |
| $90 – Livelihood training for slum women to gain financial independence and increase income by Rs 4000/month. | Ek Tara | EkTara is working with women in the Tiljala and Topsia slums to provide training in stiching programs, so that they can get trained and work in nearby dress manufacturing units to increase income by Rs 4000-5000/month | $2.7K to run a prototype experiment to train 26 women |
| $26/month – Feeds a family of 4 for an entire month. | Multiple relief agencies: Mukti, Ektara, RKM | The COVID-19 crisis and the devastation from Cyclone Amphan (the worst cyclone ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal) caused untold hardships to daily wage earners and underprivileged rural areas. Cyclone Amphan destroyed their houses, killed their livestock, flooded their farms and crops with salt water; amidst the COVID crisis, things went from bad to worse. We have been working with various orgs to provide food rations to those hit the hardest, while providing livelihood options to restart the economy in these areas. | $70K to provide over 600K meals; $17K to conduct medical camps for 15000 patients |
We thank our donors for the trust you have reposed in us – also learn more about our funding commitment levels at that page.
Check out our FAQ page for answers to commonly asked questions. Follow our story on Facebook. Contact us at “info@kolkatafoundation.org” to learn how to become a volunteer and make a difference!
© 2022 Kolkata Foundation. All rights reserved.
Kolkata Foundation is a global non-profit working to improve the lives of the neediest in Kolkata through high impact social interventions in education, women’s empowerment, and healthcare. It is a call to action: to unite, give, change lives, and kindle hope.
Kolkata Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. Gifts are tax deductible to the full extent allowable under law.
