The Uttarakhand Fund Raising by Pathways School Noida by Shreya Gupta Form 11

In June 2013, the state of Uttrakhand experienced one of the countries worst natural disasters. Fierce and devastating floods and landslides left 1000 dead and more than 11,000 missing.  Thousands of people were displaced and their houses, schools and workplaces destroyed.

In the time of such a catastrophe, the students of Pathways School

Noida, took the unanimous decision of doing their bit, in helping the people affected by these terrible floods. We took up the project of fundraising and collecting Rs. 2,50,000 to help re-establish one school, with the support of Habitat for Humanity, India that helps such disaster stricken zones.

With this goal in mind, the students gave their heart and soul in to thinking of creative ways of raising funds, planning these fund-raisers and finally executing them. Both the interact club of the senior school and the community service club of middle school joined forces and got to work. They conducted various drives such as burger and bake sales, readathon, plant sales and the winter carnival. All the students participated actively in these activities, conscious that these efforts were going to help those affected by the Uttarakhand tragedy.

It was heartening to see the parents involvement and enthusiasm in these activities, right from sponsoring their children for the readathon to wholeheartedly contributing to the planning and execution of the fun fair.  Without the combined efforts and zeal of the entire Pathways Community, right from the students, teachers, parents and admin staff, we wouldn’t have been able to collect Rs. 2, 63, 525. A sum about 13,000 rupees more than the target!

On 19th February, the students  finally handed over the cheque to the representatives of Habitat For Humanity India, in a whole school assembly. The money will be used for rebuilding a school in the flood affected area and the balance will be used to buy stationary and other materials for the students. Once the school is built, Habitat for Humanity India will be sharing the pictures with us.

It was a wonderful experience to help contribute to this noble cause. It is easy to say that we feel really sorry for the people affected in Uttarakhand, but very few actually do something to help those people. I am extremely thankful to Pathways for giving me a chance to think about the community and actually help people struck by this disaster. It gave me immense satisfaction and joy when the cheque was handed over, knowing that all our hard work would finally help those in need.