THE CONTEXT : 

Cancer in children is highly curable if diagnosed early and treated appropriately. A large portion of these children come from economically stressed homes. They face a lot of challenges when it comes to treatment, accommodation, food, etc. Bharti Vidyapeeth Hospital, Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, and Indrayani Cancer Hospital in Pune see hundreds of children visiting them for cancer treatment. Majority of these children are from low-income homes.

Among the biggest challenges faced by these children and one of the biggest unmet needs is the provision of good nutritional support during the aggressive treatment of cancer.  

THE SOLUTION AND THE INITIATIVE:

This campaign of mine is being done in partnership with the NGO -Cuddles Foundation and aims to fight hunger and malnutrition in children from low-income homes by giving them a MONTHLY RATION BASKET. This improves their chance of survival by 70% and ultimately does save lives. The baskets are given to children at the Bharti Vidyapeeth Hospital, Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, and Indrayani Cancer hospital in Pune.

This costs just INR 4500 per month.

What goes into the Monthly Ration Basket?

The monthly ration basket feeds a family of four. Each basket contains 33-34 items, including cereals, pulses, millets, nuts and oilseeds, ghee, oil, spices, milk, condiments, and essential personal hygiene products like soaps etc.

Image: Shows the Ration Basket that is given to them. 

Ration baskets and consequently good food make the medicine work, keep families in treatment, keep parents home, ensure reduced risks to the child, and give better immunity to fight cancer. 

IMPACT STORIES OF HOPE:

All funding has 80G tax benefits. 

ABOUT ME AND THIS CAMPAIGN:

My name is Rishima Moitra. I am 16 years old and a Grade 11 student at the Indus International School, Pune. I want to learn about crowd funding because it would teach me many different skills such as effective communication, technical skills, and entrepreneurial skills. Skills such as financial management are very important to develop on the cusp of entering adulthood, as we truly learn to become independent.
Children from low-income families battling cancer often face malnutrition, which hampers their response to treatments like chemotherapy and surgery, increasing toxicity and treatment interruptions. Proper nutrition is a critical yet overlooked aspect of their journey. While many organizations sponsor treatment costs, few address the essential need for food and nutrition. To bridge this gap, I aim to support these children and their families with monthly ration baskets, ensuring they have the sustenance needed to improve treatment outcomes and fight cancer effectively.
I have had experience in raising money in the past through bake sales however it was never as systematic and orderly. I would usually donate the money directly. However it is more effective to supply them with exactly what they need at an affordable amount, as seen in this campaign. I also feel that I need to improve my communication skills something I hope to see happen during the course of this campaign. Through public exposure I hope to see enhanced confidence and certainty in my communication, enrich my collaborative skills and build connections within my community.
I really enjoy scientific disciplines and feel that this campaign truly reflects many critical biological concepts such as nutrition, biomolecules, cellular metabolism, immunology, etc. I also really enjoy creative tasks, innovation and problem solving; skills I hope to harness to attract supporters and meet funding goals. I am also interested in writing, photography and research, creating a professional, persuasive campaign that attracts support and drives results.

ABOUT THE HOSPITALS:

Bharti Vidyapeeth Hospital

At Bharati Vidyapeeth Health Sciences, their exceptional team of doctors, nurses and caregivers come together to bring excellent care with the latest technologies, best medicine, and warmest service. BVMF’S Bharati Hospital is situated on the main Pune – Satara Road in the southern part of Pune city. The teaching hospital occupies 25 acres of land on a sprawling lush green campus.

The hospital not only functions for clinical training of undergraduate and postgraduate students but also caters to the medical needs of a large segment of population of South Pune as well as the surrounding rural areas including poor and needy patients.

Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital

Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital and Research Center is a charitable, multi-specialty hospital located in the heart of Pune, India. Founded in 2001, today it is one of the largest hospitals in Pune, with 800 beds. Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital offers state-of-the-art diagnostic, therapeutic, and intensive care facilities in a one-stop medical center.

The hospital is an 800-bed hospital with 12 operation theaters, a sophisticated ICU, a blood bank, a digital radiology unit, a kidney transplant unit, and many other facilities. It has some of the best equipment for diagnostics as well as treatment and is staffed by some of the finest medical and administrative personnel available in Pune. 

Indrayani Cancer Hospital

Built with the help of Shri Narasimha Saraswati Medical Foundation, Indrayani Hospital, and Cancer Institute gives standardized and affordable treatment for Cancer across Maharashtra. With the aim to reach the poor and give them affordable healthcare, a hospital called ‘Indrayani Hospital and Cancer Institute' was established through ‘Shree Narsimha Saraswati Medical Foundation’, a charitable trust, in 2003. The hospital is located in the semi-urban area of Alandi near Pune. The hospital is committed to preventing, detecting, and treating cancer in the rural area around Alandi. The treatment is given to all patients at an affordable cost. 

THE LOCATION MAP:

ABOUT THE NGO: 

Cuddles Foundation brings holistic food and nutrition to underprivileged children fighting cancer. They work through partnerships with government and charitable hospitals that treat underprivileged children for cancer. Their nutritionists, trained specifically for pediatric cancer nutrition, are placed in government hospitals and monitor the child’s progress, create diet plans and nutritional charts, counsel their parents, and educate them in home-based nutrition. They provide children undergoing treatment with food, hot meals, nutritional supplements, and ration baskets as per their requirements so that the kids have the strength to fight their cancer. To date, they have partnered with 35 hospitals in 20 cities. In 2017, with the help of individual donors, volunteers, and the Cuddles Advisory Board, they were able to develop an app that would standardize the delivery of nutritional support across all the hospitals where they work. The Cuddles FoodHeals app is the first-of-its-kind platform that helps automate mathematical functions for a nutritionist - like calculating the grade of malnourishment, BMI, calorie deficiency, etc. The app also aids her in counseling, diet planning, and mapping the progress of the child through the course of the treatment.

TAX BENEFITS:

Funding for this campaign is eligible for tax breaks as Cuddles Foundation is a registered trust and you can avail of benefits under section 80G of the IT Act. Foreign funding is NOT accepted.