NEHA GUPTA
2011 YOUTH AWARD
Empower Orphans
India
Neha began volunteering in orphanages while visiting her grandparents in India when she was only nine years old. Realizing that these orphans were neither receiving a proper education nor the love and guidance of a parent, she was moved to do more. This is when she founded Empower Orphans, a nonprofit that strives to help orphaned and underprivileged children gain a basic education and become productive members of society.
The main goal of Empower Orphans is to elevate the well being of orphaned children and empower them to succeed by helping them help themselves. Neha has effectively motivated her peers into action by developing a team of youth volunteers in the USA, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and India. The organization is now entirely run by youth volunteers who will soon help her expand Empower Orphans to African and other Asian countries.
Neha used our funding to build a computer lab and library at Shiv Shakti School in Northern India where students take computer training classes twice per week and check out books regularly. 300 students benefited from the new computer labs.
Today, Empower Orphans has positively impacted the lives of thousands of children in India and the United States by building libraries, computer labs and sewing centers. Empower Orphans also provides food, school books, bicycles, clothing and health clinics.
