With 2020 coming to a close, I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who supported Happy Healthy Us and to give a short recap of what our organization has accomplished this year.
In March of this year, Happy Healthy Us (www.happyhealthyus.org) was founded as a nonprofit organization in the state of Illinois. Two months later, my organization was given 501(c)(3) status under the IRS, making all donations tax exempt. The initial goal of the organization was to send medical aid to India. I had coordinated with a charitable hospital, Marwari Hospital, in Varanasi, India. The plan was to fundraise money in the United States and then take that money to India to make a large impact. The value of the dollar is much higher in India; I had planned to fundraise and sponsor surgeries and provide medicine with an in-person donation.
Unfortunately, shortly after I received nonprofit status, the coronavirus pandemic hit. The world went into lockdown, and it looked like support overseas would not be feasible for the near future. So, my organization pivoted and decided to help how it could here at home in the U.S. I started by mobilizing our local Chicago community, asking for food and monetary donations to support a local food bank, the People’s Resource Center in Westmont. The fundraiser was a success, and I was able to provide a donation of fresh fruits and vegetables to the food bank.
Next, I looked towards another severe problem that had only intensified in severity with the pandemic: homelessness. I found an organization called Dupage Pads (www.dupagepads.org), which provided no-cost housing for the homeless in Dupage county. Again relying on the support of my generous community, I was able to make a sizable donation to Pads, which I then helped deliver through volunteering at the organization’s center.
As summer ended, I consulted with my organization's governing board and realized that we could be doing more by involving like minded people to actively support our mission. I found and added six incredible members to our team, and assigned them different responsibilities. We saw that there was a lot of need in the St. Louis area and decided to turn our efforts to support an organization there.
In terms of the pandemic, some of the most heavily affected groups are immunocompromised, including people suffering from HIV. Happy Healthy Us was able to support a St. Louis HIV clinic called Doorways (www.doorwayshousing.org) by partnering with local restaurants to fundraise (Kunal and Walter) and relying on the generosity of St. Louis residents with a linen drive (Vivian).
The fall also saw the start of our volunteering program (Alan). We wanted to mobilize like minded students at WashU by creating an easy to access, safe option for volunteering. We were able to volunteer with a local organization called St. Louis food angels, recruiting some driven students from WashU to take the time out of their day to volunteer.
Looking forward, we have a number of exciting initiatives planned. Our original goal of providing support to the underprivileged in India is already seeing major progress. In fact, we are sponsoring 10 life-changing cataract surgeries through Marwari hospital at the beginning of this year. We are also branching out to explore how we can use our education and experience as college students to help local communities with education about college-admissions and health (Amanda, Kyrillos). Happy Healthy Us will continue to support local communities through fundraising and donation efforts to like-minded organizations.
Sincerely,
Harsha Kaul
Founder - Happy Healthy Us
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