GOONJ....
J- 93 Sarita Vihar,
New Delhi - 110076.
Tel. -  2697 2351, 4140-1216

E- Mail :- anshugoonj24@gmail.com

• There couldn't be a better way of starting this newsletter than to announce that GOONJ's "SCHOOL to SCHOOL" programme has won the prestigious CHANGEMAKERS Innovation awards. This programme has been selected as one of the most innovative, self-sustaining, cost effective and easily replicable ideas for creatively generating resources from a diversified Citizen Base.

  The winners are the top five vote-getters from among 12 finalists that emerged from a competition attracting 99 entries from 39 countries across the globe. The programme focuses on sensitizing an urban school student to the plight of his/her rural counterpart, thereby helping them realise their distant dream of a school.
  For more information -
  http://www.changemakers.net/journal/04november/case1-14-23-59.cfm

• GOONJ.. completes 6 eventful years of its registration on February 18th. A small group started from a small room in Sarita Vihar, New Delhi from 67 personal clothes has grown many folds in these six years. Today with a strong force of over 300 volunteers spread all over India, we dispatch thousands of kgs of sorted material to the remote villages in 13 states. Some of our major campaigns are -
  Vastradaan, our nationwide movement treating urban wastage as a resource for rural/slum India.
  School to School - an effort to provide basics to hundreds of rural schools
  Rahat - a campaign for the victims of natural and man made disasters happening in India.
  For more about GOONJ- www.goonj.info

• RAHAT- TSUNAMI:
  Goonj was probably the first group to initiate a proper campaign ‘Rahat - Tsunami’ on 26th December itself for reaching out to the victims of Tsunami in Tamilnadu & Andhra Pradesh in distress. In these two months we have been able to distribute trucks load of strictly need based material in various affected areas. We are working with a number of grass root agencies in these areas to provide all the possible support. Our main stress has been on filling up the gaps as we say that when you give 50 kg of rice to some one but do not give a vessel to cook it in, then even the rice looses its utility.. and we have many crucial gaps like these to fill up.
  For a full report on Goonj's Tsunami related activities and plans log on to our site.
  
  
• Also read -
  A detailed interaction about the vision and implementation of the various campaigns by GOONJ.. an interview on www.indianngos.com, a well known portal in the development sector.
  " We all know that there is a large population, which has enough material to give, and we have a much larger population who need this desperately. What is required is the effort to bridge the gap. (Anshu K Gupta on Goonj’s role)"
  
  Activity highlights this month -
• Tsunami Collection Camps :
  We are still organising camps to take care of specific requirements like cooking utensils, school material, dry ration, sanitary napkins, bed sheets etc. apart from monetary contributions for rehabilitation. This is an important stage in the Tsunami relief efforts as this is the phase when most of the common kitchen/ Camps are over and people are still finding it tough to rebuild their lives. Also most of the organisations have come back and most of the remaining agencies are focusing on rehabilitation. But the fact remains that till the time people get back their means of employment, they do need support
  
• Supporting Kashmiri immigrants:
  Every year thousands of Kashmiri migrants are here in Delhi living in the most miserable conditions with no security of food & shelter. GOONJ.. is providing regular support in terms of clothing and other essential needs to these refugees.
  
• Woollens for winters:
  The demand for clothing especially woollens goes up significantly from many parts of the country in winters. Now that we have a well established channel of distribution in many parts of the country, we have been able to send over 20,000 kg of sorted clothing to the remotest parts of many states in the last three months. More about our operational area & information about other activities on our site.
  
  How you can make a big difference
  
• Support us in the implementation of SCHOOL to SCHOOL as this is the best time to involve urban schools and their wards for collection of material, keeping in view the change in sessions.
  
• Newspaper collection drive: To become self sufficient in our finances, GOONJ.. collects old newspapers and magazines from various organisations and households. We are looking for 5000 people in the NCR region to commit their papers on a monthly basis. If you know people in other cities who would be interested in becoming part of this campaign, we need people participation in this campaign in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore & Chennai.
  
• Volunteers needed: In Delhi & Mumbai for sorting out material and in tsunami affected areas to travel and meet the victims to understand specific needs. GOONJ.. will not be able to provide any financial support but will provide all kind of guidance.
  
• Space needed: GOONJ.. has already launched its regular operation in Mumbai but we are still looking for about 300 square feet. space for regular use. We are also looking for space in Chennai, Kolkatta, Bangalore and Pune.
  For more information on this please write back to Goonj at anshu_goonj1@yahoo.co.in.
  

Our contact Details-

GOONJ..
Tel.- (m)-98681-46978, (o)-011-26972351
J-93, Sarita Vihar, New Delhi-44
E-mail - anshugoonj24@gmail.com
anshu_goonj1@yahoo.co.in
Website-www.goonj.info