In the wake of COVID, Sundara faced a tough decision: slow down our work and wait out the pandemic, or step up, take risks, and adapt our organization to the most pressing need we've ever witnessed in our lifetimes.
Thanks to you, we chose the latter.
With the world suffering, we asked, what can we, as a small organization, do to help?
We met the need where we could:
We fundraised almost $30,000 for our partner organizations in Mumbai and Bangalore.
Our team delivered 20,000 bars of soap, emergency food aid packages, clean water and reusable face masks to 700 families living in lockdown in India.
We funded 3,500 bars of soap and cloth face masks for residents of Lemolo, Kenya.
Plus, for the last 8 months, we have anonymously fulfilled Amazon wish lists for 40 families in New York City, sending diapers, infant formula, soap, shampoo and cleaning supplies so they can live in dignity.
Access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene has never been more important or life-saving; so we knew we could not let the pandemic pause our work - rather we needed to expand to new communities in need.
In an incredibly difficult time to fundraise, you helped us raise over $100,000 for RISE, our social innovation fund to support entrepreneurs with innovations tackling the impacts of COVID. We've deployed capital to entrepreneurs building toilets in India and Nigeria, a woman building the first modern laundromat in Armenia, and soap factories in Tanzania and Ghana.
It wasn't easy to slash our salaries, cancel our annual gala, host virtual events in an era of 'Zoom fatigue,' and figure out how on earth we were going to support RISE fellows when so many of our supporters were out of work and struggling to get by themselves.
Despite all of the hardship and loss faced throughout the year, you remained a constant form of support and encouragement. Your continued investment in our success during such difficult times means the world to us; we are truly grateful.
From the bottom of our hearts thank you for making this year a lot more hopeful. We wish you and your loved ones a healthy holiday season and a new year that brings things to look forward to. We are excited to continue on this journey with you for years to come.
