India (MNN) — Today is Giving Tuesday in the US, an annual holiday dedicated to “giving back” to charities and communities. As described here on the Giving Tuesday website, “#GivingTuesday is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration.”
India Partners’ Donna Glass says the help extended to their organization goes even farther today through a matching grant.
“On Giving Tuesday, we have [an] over $5,000 match. So, that’s pretty exciting to think that for every gift you give, it can be doubled so it does twice as much,” she states.
What does India Partners do?
By collaborating with groups on-the-ground, India Partners works toward an India rich in hope, justice, and compassion. From education and vocational training to disaster relief, India Partners supports the work of indigenous organizations by training local leaders and raising funds.
Your support of this work can help change a life.
“These gifts matter because a lot of the folks that we work with are Dalits; they are the ‘Untouchables,’” notes Glass, referring to India’s social hierarchy known as the caste system.
Dalits are rejected because they weren’t born into the right social class. The physically disabled are another group of social “misfits” helped by India Partners. “One of our partners provides free computer training to the physically disabled,” Glass shares.
Learn more about that program here.
“The disabled have been ‘shunted’ away so much,…but computer skills are something you don’t have to have a lot of mobility to do.”
Some of the projects outlined in India Partners’ 2018 Gift Catalog aren’t necessarily “popular” among donors, but they’re just as important.
For example, teaching village kids how to read and write may not seem like a big deal. However, in many instances, the benefits extend to parents because they “sit in” on classes and learn along with their children. In turn, Glass explains, this new knowledge helps parents make wiser business transactions.
Through India Partners, just $22 provides “four children [with] the supplies they need to sit under the tree or sit in the house and…they can learn,” says Glass. “It’s not a full day of school, but it provides for a teacher to come in and help these children do basic math [and] learn to read and write in their native language.”
A full list of needs is outlined here.
How can I help?
Philanthropy, the focus of Giving Tuesday, is defined by Merriam-Webster as “goodwill to fellow members of the human race” or “an act or gift done or made for humanitarian purposes.”
Glass says Giving Tuesday is the only time your philanthropic gifts can go four times as far.
“How much do we spend on gifts for people that maybe they don’t really need? This gift would be doubled, and on Giving Tuesday, it’s doubled even again.”
Check out the opportunities here in India Partners’ Gift Catalog, and ask the Lord how He would have you steward your resources.
Header and story images courtesy India Partners via Facebook.
