Tag Archives: Charity

Bruce Wayne Supports Thaakat Foundation

ImageIn the last year we started seeing donations come in from a person named “Bruce Wayne,” though I pondered for a moment I thought, nah, its totally possible for that to really be someone’s name.

Then I started seeing donations popping up from Bruce Wayne on different campaign pages for Thaakat. When I emailed him to find out where I could mail a thank you package, he emailed me back–

“If you could donate a small sized Jersey Strong shirt instead to a homeless shelter in New York I would appreciate it”

What a kind gentleman. With candor he continues to be a beam of support that flickers in the night. He continues to be our Thaakat.

Over the last year he has donated almost $400 to the cause. Bruce, whoever you are and wherever you are, thank you.

I would like to…

I would like to take a moment to recognize Ayesha Lodhia, President and founder at Thaakat Atlanta. Ayesha was nominated for our “Nominate an Exceptional Woman” campaign and I can attest to the fact that she is EXCEPTIONAL. She has set standards at Thaakat- from leading the MVP of all fundraising teams in their inaugural year, to creating their own annual report and blog, launching the most diverse group on campus, committing to the most volunteer hours over a semester, to really leading with her heart. Unfortunately, Thaakat folks were exempt from an official win, though she won me over long ago!
Over the last few years with Thaakat, she has been an inspiration to me and to others. She has shown what the fruits of hard work can be and has brought to life the words- that nothing is impossible.
Thank you Ayesha for all you do as a team mate and for all you are as a person. Ayesha is GOOD for Life.
Much Love,
Uzma Bawany
Executive Director@Thaakat

Help Us Fill Our Cookie Jar!

Sandy JarWell, would you look at that.

Our Sandy Relief Jar is filling up! Thank you to those of you who have donated, you’re AWESOME. As for those of you who haven’t — come on, jump onto the bandwagon! (Or the cookie jar as it may be.)

We are just ten days away from our December 14th deadline, and we are slowly but surely creeping and crawling our way to our goal. You can help us creep and crawl a little faster by making a donation. Every dollar counts!

We began this fundraiser in honor of Vishwaja Muppa, a member of Thaakat Stony Brook who passed away in an accident after Hurricane Sandy. Sandy wreaked havoc across the eastern states, and the country is still struggling to recover.

Donations will benefit the Plainfield Salvation Army in New Jersey.  Even though Sandy is long gone and power has been restored, things are far from normal. But with your help, normal is within reach.

Halloween: A Brief History and the Charity Tie-in

Halloween began more than two thousand years ago as Samhain, a Celtic holiday celebrated on October 31st, the day before New Year’s. Because of the short days and cold winters, Celts believed that the dead returned to Earth on Samhain.
To help the dead on their journey, they sacrificed fruits, vegetables, and animals. This also served to appease any angry ghosts so they wouldn’t harass the living. The Celts even wore costumes (they wore animal skins, definitely no Disney princess costumes there) and left treats outside their doors for the dead. Sound familiar?
While we’re still celebrating Halloween today by dressing up in costumes and handing out treats to passing ghosts, it has lost its religious meaning. Today it’s more about the candy and the costumes than anything else. And it has become a popular way for charities to raise money.
- Greenville First Steps, a nonprofit in Greenville, SC dedicated to increasing school readiness for parents and children, has organized a zombie run. The Zombie Outrun 5K Chase Race will take place on Saturday, November 3rd. Participants can sign up to be either a zombie or a runner. How does this work? Runners must go through the 5K course, navigating through various obstacles, all while keeping out of the zombies’ reach. You know, this is also a good way to motivate reluctant runners – just send zombies after them!
- “Thrill the World” is perhaps the largest Halloween dance party because it is a party across the globe. It is both an attempt to break the world-record for the most people to dance to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and a charity fundraiser. “Thrill the World” just completed its seventh year. The event was held on October 27th, and all proceeds went to the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas.
- Another cool charity event that took advantage of the Halloween theme was the Boolathon in Canada, which was held at Academy Lanes, a bowling alley. Costumed participants gathered last Sunday for Boolathon 2012. Proceeds supported Kids Help Phone, a 24-hour phone service that has counselors on call for kids across Canada.

Shakespeare and Thaakat: What They Have in Common

When I first heard the name for Thaakat’s latest event “A Mid-Autumn Night’s Dream”, I thought Thaakat was putting on a play. You know, some variation of our favorite playwright William Shakespeare’s famous comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream. What fairies and magical love potions had to do with any of Thaakat’s initiatives, I had no idea, but it was an intriguing prospect and I checked out the event details on Facebook.
Imagine my disappointment when I found out the event wasn’t a play at all! I would have definitely gone to see the play. Well, maybe. I mean it is taking place in New Jersey, which isn’t exactly next door to where I’m living in Chicago, but hey, it could have happened.
“A Mid-Autumn Night’s Dream” is a fundraising dinner. The event promises elegance and white glove service, laughs and music, an auction and a movie screening. And it is committed to supporting Thaakat’s #lethedreambe’ initiative, which may in fact make this event better than any old play. So what if the original play had fairies and a funny man with the head of a donkey?
The event is scheduled for Thursday, October 4th (yes, that’s tomorrow!) at Ariana’s Grand of Woodbridge. While it doesn’t have much in common with Shakespeare’s play, one similarity is the comedy element. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a barrel of laughs, and our event promises that and more with special guests improv comedian Saad Haroon and singer/songwriter Denis Lipari.
If you’re in the New Jersey area (or willing to drive or fly there from wherever it is you are), join Thaakat at Ariana’s Grand for an evening of splendor, style, and charity. Walk-ins are welcome.

How Nudrat Met Thaakat

By: Nudrat Zoha | Social Media Guru | Thaakat Foundation
Two years ago this month, I found myself packing boxes in my basement after family, friends, and I had collected clothes and canned food to make relief packages for those affected by the floods in Pakistan. While I was happy to help the flood victims in this small way, I wanted to do more. It was this desire to bring about positive change on a large scale that led me to the Thaakat Foundation.
When I was asking friends for help, one briefly mentioned how some organization called Thaakat was also reaching out to the victims. That night, insomnia kicked in and YouTube failed to entertain me. I was wasting time on good ol’ Facebook when I remembered Thaakat. After ten minutes of thoroughly stalking the organization, looking at pictures, wall posts, and blog entries, I decided to send the organization an email. Uzma Bawany, the executive director, was quick with her response and we scheduled a time to talk.

Uzma invited me to Thaakat’s very first Charity Basketball Tournament, organized to help the victims of the Pakistani floods. Without any hesitation, I attended, and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

At the event, I spent my time walking around the facility, paying special attention to the people there and how the event had been set up. I was surprised to see just how many people had attended. Even though I knew few people at the event, I felt at home with the crowd because at the end of the day we were all supporting the same cause. What also struck me was how everything – from the food to the entertainment to the financial management – was all handled by people roughly around my age. It was a great assurance to know there were others who cared about and were willing to help the less fortunate.
I remember going home after the two days feeling like I had taken part in something amazing. It was the same feeling I had felt after our care packages had been shipped off to Pakistan except it was magnified by one billion.
Just days after the event, I emailed Uzma and told her I wanted to help in any way possible. She must have taken note of my ultimate Facebook skills, because right away, she asked me if I would man Thaakat’s social media platform. Without thinking twice, I said YES!
It has been two years since I joined the board. I have made a hundred new friends, taken part in more volunteer activities than I can count, and eventually, I hope to spread peace, love, and happiness to millions through my one and only, Thaakat.

Thaakat Event: Ballin’ 4 Books

Have you been paying attention?

Let me clarify. Have you been paying attention to Thaakat’s most recent Facebook updates? You know, the ones that tell you about Ballin’ 4 Books? If not, pay close attention now because I’m about to tell you.

Ballin’ 4 Books is Thaakat’s third annual charity basketball tournament. All proceeds will go towards our Dreams for Kachra Kundi Campaign.

In case you’ve been living under a rock (or in case you’re new to Thaakat — Welcome!), this campaign will pay for books and other expenses at the school we  recently funded in Kachra Kundi, a village in Karachi that, until Thaakat’s intervention, had limited access to education.

Help those kids out, and register for the event here. It will begin on Saturday, November 17 at the Oak Brook Park District, and registration is $250 per team of eight players. By the way, prepayment for the event is due by November 3rd. If you don’t meet that deadline, we can’t guarantee that you will have a spot in the tournament. Or that you will have a chance to pick your team color. You could get stuck with brown as your team color. Or puce. That would be unfortunate.

So far, eight teams have registered for the event. Personally, I’m rooting for Team Medicaid. But who knows, maybe they’ll get taken down by the BiryaniBoyz. Or the Disney Dreamers. Or your team. Register today!

Nonprofit Spotlight: charity: water

By: Hira T. Khan | Keeper of the Blog | Thaakat Foundation
Anyone who has been to a developing country knows better than to drink water from the tap. “Boiled water is good, bottled water is better” is the unofficial mantra. Otherwise you can get nasty things like  Hepatitis A.

But what about the people living in those developing countries? The people that don’t have a supply of clean water? Sometimes they have to travel for miles to get water, sometimes they have no choice but to drink water that can compromise their health.

That is the gap that nonprofit charity: water is aiming to bridge.

Founded in 2006, charity: water provides clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. In six years, they’ve managed to fund over 6,000 projects in 20 countries. They’ve really made a dent in helping those 800 million people around the world who don’t have access to clean water. If I could, I’d give them a pat on the back but since I can’t (for obvious reasons) I’ll just have to settle for this post in honor of the good work they’ve done and continue to do.

Charity: water touts that 100% of all general public donations directly cover the costs related to water projects such as construction and drilling, local staff and community costs, and sanitation and hygiene. To learn more about the organization go here and then go here to learn about Jerry cans, pictured above, which have become a symbol for the organization.