Running with Asha
Asha for Education is a volunteer run organization aiming to catalyze socio-economic change in India through education. The objectives of the group are:
- To provide access to education for underprivileged children in India
- To promote universal education and decrease child labor
- To support grass roots initiatives in deprived and marginalized communities in India
- To address, whenever possible, other issues affecting human life such as health care, environmental and socio-economic issues, women's issues, human rights issues, etc.
As a part of Team Asha this runner has committed to meet the above objectives through your support. Please read the runner's personal statement below and use the donate button on the right to make a contribution to the runner's objective.
Guru Mathur
I started running when I was in college and have been running regularly ever since. I got to know about Asha for Education and their Strides of Hope program in 2008 when I was looking for people to run with. This year, I have committed to run my first full marathon on Dec 4, 2011 at the Dallas White Rock Marathon. I have also pledged to raise money for Asha, which is also a first time for me! With your help and support, I hope to succeed in both these endeavors.
Why Asha?
A recent visit to Chennai made me want to do something to help with underprivileged children’s education in India. Apart from my familiarity with Asha for Education and the volunteers in Dallas who have previously raised money for Asha, there were a few aspects of Asha that made me decide to raise funds myself this year.
(i) The Children - Asha’s mission is to catalyze socio-economic change in India through education of underprivileged children.
(ii) Asha is a volunteer run organization with almost zero overhead cost, which means all donations goes directly to the children.
(iii) 100% Non-religious
(iv) Projects - There are many Asha projects across the country and several in Tamil Nadu and Chennai that I could get more involved in.
This video of CNN’s coverage of one of the projects supported by Asha - the Olcott School in Tamil Nadu, provides some insights into how donations will be used.
My Involvement with Asha
This is my first time volunteering and raising funds for Asha. While I’m generally aware of the many projects that Asha supports, I intend to personally visit some of the projects in the upcoming year and expand my involvement even further. Here is a list of Asha projects. With a number of projects across India, you can always find one that you can connect with.
How can you help?
My personal goal is to raise at least $2000 by December 31, 2011. Please donate as much as you can to this worthy cause by clicking the DONATE button on the right. You can choose to donate to a specific Asha project of your choice or let Asha decide how to allocate the funds.
Tax Deductions
Contributions to Asha are 100% tax deductible in the US (under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code), and 50% tax deductible in India (under section 80G of the Income tax act).
Note: If you live in India, and wish to donate in Rupees, please mail a check payable to ‘Asha’ (NOT ‘Asha for Education’) to the address below and please add this note - “Guru Mathur’s Marathon Goal”:
Asha Trust
c/o Vallabhacharya Pandey
Village: Bhandahan Kala
Post Office: Kaithi,
Varanasi 221 116
Uttar Pradesh, India.
Asha Trust is a registered 80G organization and all donations are tax-deductible as allowed by Indian laws for 80G organizations in India.
