People Who Helped Make A Difference

Amit Golecha (Jaipur)
Bhupendra Sisodiya (Thandla, Madhya Pradesh)
Kamlesh Lunawat(Indore)
Laxman Budel ( Mumbai )
Pushpendra Jain (Thandla,Madhya Pradesh)
Pravaeen Gandhi(Varanasi)
Purvik Jain (Korea)
Shri Narayan Guruji (Thandla,Madhya Pradesh)
Sushil Jain (Tokyo)
Sunil Burad(Mumbai)

Malnutrition: getting worst in India

“And those who say to me “It’s not that bad anymore, even the poor have TVs and refrigerators, etc etc.” To them I say, “Are these children are all faking???!!!!”

How much have YOU really contributed to the poor of India? How often do you claim to be a PROUD Indian, happily living in the USA, your adopted country? How much have YOU given to the poor of India? How much of their welfare is really in the hands of MISSIONARIES AND FOREIGN givers?

If you wish to be a part of the solution, please give generously to a charity of your choice!”

The article is simply written and factual, yet its story struck me hard enough to make me literally cry. Mainly this line: “The children ate it, then sat hoping for more, but there was none.” It reminds me of a scene during this visit which was heart wrenching to observe.

In Mumbai we went to a popular shopping enclave. My family shopped at a cell phone store and I sat near the entrance. It was quite late in the evening. The store was near a mandir (temple) and some big family must have done some puja and were handing out prasad (offering). A small group of very poor people huddled in front of the gates…with dark, streaked skin, torn, tattered and greasy clothing, arms stretched out, eyes shining in anticipation of the food to come. The group included 3-4 children, ranging from eight to four (perhaps they were older, stunted by improper nutrition). Puri and aloo sabji (bread and potato curry) were handed out in small bowls made out of leaves, the norm for such events. The children grabbed their bowls with excitement and gratitude. One ravenously bit in and ate with gusto. He was clearly famished and could see nothing but the food in his bowl. Another broke off each piece of the bread slowly, savoring each bite. Another child picked up his bowl and settled on the pavement, next to the sewage ridden gutter. Inside the store was a large television, visible from the street. The child sat at an angle so he could see the television (just the flashing images was enough), and relished his share. A hungry dog wandered at a dangerous distance. Piles of dung dotted the same pavement, flies and mosquitoes hovering around the food and the children.

After a little while, the bowls were empty. The children were still hungry. Their eyes looked appealingly at the temple gates, hungry and sad, wondering if there would be more. They didn’t stretch their arms out again, didn’t cry out for food, but they sat there for a long time, hopeful for another morsel. That food, that small meal, was a luxury, a rare experience, and they longed for just a little more. A little more to fill their stomachs and comfort their small, malnutritioned bodies.

You can help us by

Following is a list of options for people from all walks of life!!

IF YOU ARE –

• An Organization/Corporate:
  Motivate your employees/colleagues to join in our efforts.
  Initiate a collection drive in your organization where employees can bring in their unwanted but re-usable material for Punkam Charitable Trust (PCT)..
  You can also support us financially/sponsor any of our activities Donate your old newspapers.

• A Potential Sponsor:
  Sponsor our camps, events, products and administrative expenditure. Often we are forced to incur huge costs on short-lived activities like collection camps or 2-3 day events. This becomes a monetary problem for us as PCT... Is a small trust with limited funds. Even printing a catalogue is a pocket-pinching exercise for us. We thus appeal to any individual/organization that would like to help us out.

• A Business House/Exporter:
  What do you do with your non-saleable/surplus material ? (for e.g. garments, footwear, stationary, toys, books, utensils, furniture etc.)
  Instead of throwing it away, you can give it to PCT.. We re-use and re-distribute this or based on your permission, sell it to raise funds. This creates an environmental-friendly and socially responsible channel for the disposal of your wastage. Financial contributions (big/small) are also welcome to help spread the impact of our initiatives to a larger area.
  

• A School/College/Professional Institute:
  Educational institutions have always been a great forum to initiate collection drives. A chance to talk to your students to sensitize and motivate them will go a long way in supporting education in rural schools.

• A Transporter:
  Transportation of material to various parts of the country is always a logistical problem. It would be of great help to us if you could reduce our burden a little bit by helping us reach some of these places for distribution of material.
  

• A Media Person:
  For a greater impact, reaching out to the right people is a must; you can help us here simply by accessing your network!
  

• An IT Professional:
  Take out a little time and share your knowledge with us. Guide us in managing our database and strengthening our administrative systems.

• A Factory Proprietor:
  We are in constant need of packaging material to dispatch large quantities of utility items. You can solve this perpetual problem by giving us your old/used gunny bags and cartons.

• A Theatre Person:
  Theatre, by all means is a powerful medium of generating awareness and stimulating thought on important issues. You can facilitate an out-reach programme using your theatrical skills to sensitize the public about our work (through street-plays etc.).

• A Shopkeeper:
  Join us by keeping our collection boxes at your shops.

• An Airlines -
  Travel is an integral part of our work. We travel across the country to meet the beneficiaries, understand their needs and to widen our network. Come forward to sponsor/subsidize this cost

• You can support us by :

Joining us as a volunteer for all the above-mentioned activities.

Organizing a collection drive at your work and residential area.

Arranging funds for this movement.

Sponsoring certain activities.

Donating whatever material you can.

Motivating people to provide Infrastructural Support: Storage Space

Giving us a forum to create awareness among your colleagues/management or other acquaintances.

About Punkam Charitable Trust

Punkam Charitable Trust (Regd.)
Head off: Delhi
Branch off: Jaipur and Mumbai

Punkam charitable trust is a trust registration under the India Trust Act, 1882 since 5th January 1998.

Registration No. DIT (E) 98-9918-544/98/265

Mr. Rakesh Kumar Jain, the settler is desirous of establishing a TRUST for carrying out charitable activities and for creating a fund for public charitable objects.

Mr. Pushap Kumar Jain, the settler is desirous of establishing a TRUST for carrying out charitable activities and for creating a fund for public charitable objects.

Punkam Charitable Trust has been organizing medical camps for the last 12 in Rajasthan. The medical camp takes place on 21st -22nd September every year.


MAIN ACTIVITIES OF THE TRUST

The object for which the TRUST FUND is established are education, relief for the poor, medical relief, and advancement of any other charitable object of general utility, not involving the carrying of any activity for profit.
to establish and/or grant aid in cash and/or kind to hospitals, maternity homes, and/or child welfare centers, orphanages, homes for the old/destitute and/or such other similar charitable institutions in India.

1. To establish, support, run, and/or grant aid and other financial assistance to schools/ colleges, libraries/reading rooms for use to the hard working and meritorious poor students, as also books, uniforms, fees, etc to them and/or for advancement of education and diffusion of knowledge in general.

2. To promote and support research, scientific and cultural (like music, dance, drama, fine arts, etc.) activities as also to preserve and protect old historical monuments.

3. To establish and/or grant aid for the establishment and maintenance of parks and gardens, gymnasiums an sports Institutions, tube wells, water wells and works for supply of drinking water and for the constructions of and/or repairs to wells for the use of public in general.

4. To do any other act for the advancements of general public utility not involving the carrying on of any activity for profit, without distinction of caste, color and creed.
5. To undertake rural development including waste land development and to assist in all such program which are aimed towards rural upliftment and poverty elevation.