We at Aaliya's aid are a nonprofit organization dedicated to working for the cause of others, one human being at a time! We bridge the gap between those who want to donate & those who need the aid. Therefore, making donation easier for you! Our services range from connecting you to the charity/charities of your choice, fundraising money for our tied-up charities & organizations, to creating customized handbooks for donations to the cause of your choice/preference like HIV or Cancer. This handbook, specially curated for you shall entail contact details of various charities & suggestions on how & where to allocate funds and donations.
1. What inspired you to create Aaliya’s Aid?
After losing a close family member to cancer in 2019, I was met face to face with an illness that was so widespread and has ruined so many lives. It made me realize just how much suffering there is beyond our comfort zone and our privileges. July of 2019 was the year, my vague & ambiguous idea and will to do charity turned into something that was definite and which had a cause & a name. Since then, we've worked with various organizations on a personal level to advocate various social issues like Racism, Climate change, patriarchy, equality & mental health, on which I also recently delivered a talk.
2. What does Aaliya’s Aid mean to you or how has it shaped who you are?
Aaliya's aid is the result of my passion & will to do charity, I've always strongly believed in the idea of giving back and doing your bit. It's what I try doing best through Aaliya's aid. I would definitely say that after working for the cause of Aaliya's aid for over two years now it has brought about phenomenal change in my personality and my perspective of the world. I still vividly remember the first time I visited an NGO for children with cancer with my team, it made me realize and recognize my privileges in the truest sense possible. The entire experience has made me ten folds more sensitive to suffering and the pandemic has only deepened and enhanced that aspect of my personality.
3. What do you hope to achieve through this organization?
The ultimate or long-term goal of Aaliya's aid per-se is to make society, in general, more sensitive towards the cause of charity & helping society understand why giving back is such a huge aspect of their lives. It is only after you recognize world problems beyond your privileges that you will understand the need to do charity and why it holds a special place for some. Aaliya's aid also aims at better connecting people with other donors and making non-profit organizations more accessible for people to donate to. Aaliya's aid is nothing but a bridge between donors and organizations & an advocator for the cause of social problems!
4. How do you hope to respond to COVID-19 as this has been a devastating pandemic?
As part of our COVID-19 relief project, Aaliya's aid has sprung into action since day one of the pandemic in India and has provided its service to various organizations in terms of monetary aid. In the very beginning, Aaliya's aid was involved back home with the Migrant labor crisis wherein millions of daily wage earners were flocking back to the villages due to shortage of food resources and a daily earning. Aaliya's aid partnered with a home-grown organization to carry out a donation drive to provide to these migrant laborers food grain and sanitary kits to help them & their families out. Apart from that Aaliya's aid has donated to another home-grown organization called the "Hemkunt foundation" with monetary funds to procure oxygen tanks/concentrators amid the deadly second wave of the pandemic. We have also donated to several other organizations during the course of the pandemic. We have temporarily shut physical operations in light of stringent lockdown guidelines by the govt to follow COVID appropriate behavior and to reduce the risk of any of our volunteers contracting the virus.
5. What was your favorite event or experience with Aaliya’s Aid?
At the first NGO we visited, we distributed stationery items among the children and did some fun activities. We were having a dance session when the mother of this 5-year old girl suddenly burst into tears. When I asked what happened she said that she'd never seen her daughter smile and laugh the way she did that day - because of us!