THE BACKGROUND

From the parched land of Beed, which finds its name in the hundred most backward districts of India, comes a heartwarming story of an activist. Santosh Garje, who at the age of 18, single-handedly set up the Aai Foundation and an orphanage Balgram, the hope of providing shelter to destitute children in a small village called Georai, in Beed district. 

Santosh Garje was the son of a cane-cutter from the drought-prone region of Beed, Maharashtra notorious for farmer suicides, lost his sister to domestic violence leaving her infant daughter as an orphan in Santosh’s care. This crucible not only changed Santosh’s life but also of many children who would later address him ‘Baba’. He quit his dream of becoming a school teacher and at a young age of 18, began an institution called Sahara Anathalay Pariwar later renamed Balgram with a vow to provide a better future to those innocent children who had faced similar destinies as his niece.

ABOUT ME 

Hello I am Leon Gabriel Lobo. I am 13 years old and studying in Grade 8 at Bombay Scottish School, Powai.

"To have a family and to be loved is a blessing every day". However, this is not what the children in Georai, Beed a remote village in Maharashtra experience. Beed is notorious for farmer suicides, thereby leaving many children orphaned at a very young age. Their families unable to care for their basic requirement of food and shelter, leave alone education.

AAI foundation has been working since 2004 through Balgram (Sahara Anathalaya Pariwar) in Georai Taluka (Beed District). AAI works towards providing these children with basic needs, healthcare, a hygienic atmosphere with proper sanitation facility, quality education and opportunities to develop personal skills and nurture hobbies.

Santosh Narayan Garje, the founder of AAI foundation, born in the family of a poor sugarcane labourer in Maharashtra’s remote village Patsara located in Beed. He lost his elder sister during childbirth. Shouldering the responsibility of raising his newly born niece, the thought of other orphans in his district struck him. This inspired him to start “Sahara Anathalaya Pariwar” in 2004. Since then he has worked hard to raise funds to provide basic necessities for these children. Santosh has been managing with donations from generous patrons. However, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult financially for the foundation to manage its day-to-day operations.

Through this campaign, I want to create the same opportunity for these young children so that like me they can hope and look forward to a brighter future. Let us celebrate life, love and hope this festive season by donating to this noble cause. Your generosity will brighten up a little child’s future.

At just INR 2500/- per month you can make a difference to the life of a orphan in a rural area for an entire month. Please support my campaign as we can together transform the lives of at least one and possibly more orphan children in rural Maharashtra.

To know more about the AAI foundation click on http://aaifoundation.org/

IN THE NEWS

COST SHEET

CHILDREN AT BALGRAM

A VIDEO BY BALGRAM

LOCATION

TAX BENEFITS

Funding for this campaign is eligible for tax breaks as BALGRAM is a registered trust and you can avail of benefits under section 80G of the IT act. Foreign funding is also accepted.

FEEDBACK THAT YOU GET

To ensure that there is complete transparency I shall get a report from Balgram (this takes between 1 to 3 months usually after the funds are raised & transferred to them) telling me who benefitted from the funding. The details will then be posted on the UPDATES section of my campaign and will be in a format like the one below. As soon as I post an update, the platform will send an  EMAIL alert to all the funders - i.e. to you. Click on the link on the email and you can read about which child benefitted. That's transparent right.