THE CONTEXT :
Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH) located in Mumbai is one of the largest cancer centers in India. Over 100000 new cancer cases are treated every year in the hospital and approximately 4000 of them are children who are in the 0 (Zero) to 18-year age group. These patients come from all over the country.
Cancer in children is highly curable if diagnosed early and treated appropriately. A large portion of these children come from economically stressed homes. They face a lot of challenges when it comes to treatment, accommodation, food, etc
Among the biggest challenges faced by these children and one of the biggest unmet needs is the provision of good nutritional support during the aggressive treatment of cancer.
THE SOLUTION AND THE INITIATIVE:
This campaign of mine is being done in partnership with the NGO -Cuddles Foundation and aims to fight hunger and malnutrition in children from low-income homes by giving them a MONTHLY RATION BASKET. This improves their chance of survival by 70% and ultimately does save lives.
This costs just INR 4500 per month.
What goes into the Monthly Ration Basket?
The monthly ration basket feeds a family of four. Each basket contains 33-34 items, including cereals, pulses, millets, nuts and oilseeds, ghee, oil, spices, milk, condiments, and essential personal hygiene products like soaps etc.
Image: Shows the Ration Basket that is given to them.
Ration baskets and consequently good food make the medicine work, keep families in treatment, keep parents home, ensure reduced risks to the child, and give better immunity to fight cancer.
IMPACT STORIES OF HOPE:
All funding has 80G tax benefits.
ABOUT ME AND THIS CAMPAIGN:
My name is Aria Verma. I am 14 years old and a Grade 9 student at the Billabong High International School at Malad, Mumbai.
I have undertaken this campaign to support children who have cancer and their families with a monthly ration basket.
I have undertaken this campaign because this is a critical element in the treatment of these children who go through the difficult journey of fighting cancer. Although there are several people and organizations which sponsor the treatment of financially stressed patients, there are very few that help out with an equally important issue - "THEIR FOOD AND NUTRITION".
Children from low-income homes are often malnourished. Malnourished patients respond poorly to medical interventions such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and/or surgery, with increased episodes of toxicity, interruptions in hospital admissions, and inability to take timely chemotherapy in full doses leading to a poor response to treatment. Overall, malnutrition increases the rate of abandonment of therapy and doubles the risk of death due to cancer.
The cost to impact a child is only INR 4500.
ABOUT THE TATA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL (TMH):
The Tata Memorial Hospital is situated in Parel, Mumbai. Also popularly known as TMH, it is a specialist cancer treatment and research center, closely associated with the Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC). The center is the National Comprehensive Cancer Center for the prevention, treatment, education, and research of cancer and is recognized as one of the leading cancer centers in this part of the world. It is an autonomous body funded and controlled by the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India which also oversees the administration of the institute since 1962.
The Tata Memorial Hospital was initially commissioned by the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust on 28 February 1941 as a center with enduring value and a mission of concern for the Indian people. The current Director of the hospital is Dr. Rajendra A. Badwe, who took over from Dr. K. A. Dinshaw.
THE LOCATION MAP:
ABOUT THE NGO:
Cuddles Foundation brings holistic food and nutrition to underprivileged children fighting cancer. They work through partnerships with government and charitable hospitals that treat underprivileged children for cancer. Their nutritionists, trained specifically for pediatric cancer nutrition, are placed in government hospitals and monitor the child’s progress, create diet plans and nutritional charts, counsel their parents, and educate them in home-based nutrition. They provide children undergoing treatment with food, hot meals, nutritional supplements, and ration baskets as per their requirements so that the kids have the strength to fight their cancer. To date, they have partnered with 35 hospitals in 20 cities. In 2017, with the help of individual donors, volunteers, and the Cuddles Advisory Board, they were able to develop an app that would standardize the delivery of nutritional support across all the hospitals where they work. The Cuddles FoodHeals app is the first-of-its-kind platform that helps automate mathematical functions for a nutritionist - like calculating the grade of malnourishment, BMI, calorie deficiency, etc. The app also aids her in counseling, diet planning, and mapping the progress of the child through the course of the treatment.
TAX BENEFITS:
Funding for this campaign is eligible for tax breaks as Cuddles Foundation is a registered trust and you can avail of benefits under section 80G of the IT Act. Foreign funding is NOT accepted.
FAQs
When do I get the receipts?
It takes 7-10 days after the campaign is closed for the monies to be transferred to the NGO -Cuddles Foundation. The receipts will start getting processed about 2-3 weeks AFTER that and will be sent to you directly.
How can we fund this campaign with a Cheque?
Fueladream Online Ventures Private Ltd account details are as below
BANK NAME: HDFC Bank Limited.
BRANCH: Koramangala( Main Branch). City: Bengaluru - 560095.
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 50200013106778
IFSC CODE: HDFC0000053
Please draw a cheque in favour of "Fueladream Online Ventures Pvt Ltd", and deposit the cheque into the Fueladream Online Ventures Pvt Ltd's HDFC Bank account (at any HDFC branch across INDIA). After you deposit the cheque, please send an email to prasad@fueladream.com AND getintouch@fueladream.com with the following funder information.
1) Name of Funder:
2) Full address with Pin code:
3) Telephone/Mobile no and Email ID:
4) PAN of funder:
5) Cheque number:
6) Amount funded:
7) Whose campaign are you funding:
After the funds are received and the above details are verified, the fund amount will be transferred to the respective campaign. This can take from 1-3 working days.
How does crowdfunding work?
Crowdfunding in India is a relatively new concept and is growing very quickly.
It’s a concept that allows a large number of funders (like you) to fund an idea or a cause or event by giving small amounts of money online. Fueladream.com is a crowdfunding platform in India that allows for such pooling of funds. You can fund innovations and ideas on FuelADream and be the first to get these products or make them come true. You can also do a good turn by funding charities and causes through crowdfunding.
