There is always a backstory

WE all have a soft side - and most founders of nonprofits act on it. 

One used to be the head of Asia’s largest eye bank. When a cornea became available for transplant one evening, he called the person on top of the waiting list. After a number of tries a frail voice answered, asking ‘what is it?’

He explained to the 72-year-old lady that an eye had been donated and she could now get her surgery done. After a long pause, she said: “I have no money left, the wretched surgeon is asking for ?20,000,” and started crying. She said she had sold her jewellery, her furniture and had nothing left, adding: “I am old, I will die a blind woman. Give it to someone else.” 

This was the turning point for this founder.

Another was so disturbed by the amount of food waste at a wedding he attended that he began feeding the hungry on the streets with extra food cooked in his home. This spurred him to start an NGO that picks up freshly cooked leftover food from hotels, weddings and restaurants and disburses it to the poor.

Then there was a 19-year-old who had his epiphany while on a fellowship programme in remote Uttarakhand. He realised he had “won the lottery” of birth and privilege - unlike the villagers he interacted with who faced a daily crisis of what to eat at the end of each day. So instead of pursuing an MBA and a corporate job, he opened a school for girls in a small Dalit village in Uttar Pradesh.

These are just three stories out of hundreds that have led ordinary citizens to found charitable organisations - 59 of which are on our platform, and each one deserves support.

I am appealing to your soft side now - find a cause that you care about on SmallChange.ngo and make a donation to support an NGO of your choice.