HornRaiser Update - Week 5

Thank you all for your generous donations to the Community Center for Packianathapuram! There are 10 more days for you to help support us via our fundraising campaign!

Our HornRaiser has been live for just over a month and we are almost 97% of the way, having fundraised $14,689. Please help us reach our fall semester goal of $15,000.

We appreciate all the kindness and support! Please share our project with others, whether that be via Facebook, our Blog or a link to HornRaiser. We would like everyone to have the opportunity to help make an impact on someone else's life.

Here are a few updates on what has happened this week:

• We transitioned into our new roles and have created a plan for action for winter break - major goals being funding and speaking with a community representative and potential contractor for the project.

• The government of India has an act in place that provides assistance to families experiencing poverty, called the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA - 2005). This act employs people in public works projects, like building toilets or roads. However, many people lack access to these funds because they are unaware of how to approach it: filing the paperwork and the timeline involved. Through linking our community to the internet and a local university, the community will be able to research and understand their options under NREGA.

• Team India visited the Regional Foundation Library (RFL) in search of additional grant makers - both for personal funding and project funding.

• Our condolences go out to the state of Tamil Nadu, after their Chief Minster, J Jayalalithaa, passed away on December 5th. O Panneerselvam was instated as the new CM, and his first big challenge to tackle is water, or rather the regional drought issue, as farmers stare at a loss of livelihood.