This Christmas we’re fundraising to give the gift of nourishment to children attending Helping Point’s daycare centres in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
Why give?
Crop failures caused by a blisteringly hot summer and late monsoon season have left many families in Helping Point's communities struggling to feed their children. To offset the impact of this drought, Helping Point is fundraising to provide weekly meals to children in the most affected locations where we operate.
Child malnutrition is a huge problem within Helping Point’s communities and also in India as a whole. 37.9% of children in the country have stunted growth due to insufficient nutrition, and wasting (being underweight for height) is extremely high at 20.8% - the highest rate of any country worldwide, according to the Global Hunger Index 2019. Malnutrition caused 69% of deaths of children aged under five in India, according to UNICEF’s 2019 report.
The locations where we operate are mostly rural, and the communities directly rely upon agriculture for survival. Many families rent land to grow their own crops to support themselves. Other parents are day labourers, paid a meagre sum for backbreaking work. When crops are bad, many families receive nothing. Even in the best of times it can be difficult for parents in these precarious situations to support their children. Drought, as we have seen this year, can make it impossible.
Seeking to answer this need, we are looking to fundraise $12,000 this Christmas. This amount will not only help address the current critical needs, but also enable us to plan and provide one year’s worth of meals to areas affected by chronic hunger. This will help address long-term malnutrition, nourishing children and strengthening entire communities.
How the funds will be used
The funds we raise will go firstly towards providing three evening meals a week to children at five of our daycare centres. Our wider ambition is to provide meals five days a week at all 10 of our daycare centres, and we will do this as soon as we have enough funds to support it. Currently, we are having to prioritize the communities where need is most urgent.
Alongside the free midday meal that children receive at government schools, the funds we raise will ensure that kids will get to have an evening meal too. Proper nutrition helps a child to be healthy and to grow, learn, and thrive.
Please consider donating this Christmas. All the money you give will go directly to provide the meals in India. Do contact us if you have any questions, or would like to get more involved with Helping Point.
Thank you, and Merry Christmas!