Hello fellow philanthropists/budding philanthropists and those with extra cash… Listen up!!
My name is Pradnya Mohite and I am appealing to your inner goodness to bring joy to the simple lives of thousands of Indian villagers in the Thar Desert of Western India.
Wait… People live in the Thar? I thought that was inhospitable environment.
Yes they do and the people living there are cheerful and ever hopeful about life even in the most drought-stricken conditions
I am now channeling my inner hiker and the my quest to bring relief to the Thar residents by participating in the annual charity climb of Mount Baker with the Seattle Chapter of Asha for Education this year.
As a resident of the Pacific Northwest I have always enjoyed hiking. Trust me when I say that once you hike in the Pacific Northwest you are hooked! The more you explore the region’s environmental bounties the more you want to hike into unchartered terrains. This interest in hiking slowly built in me a passion for mountaineering! From my experience I realized that if you want to see places beyond your imagination all you need to do is Keep Walking. Forget the terrain, forget the weather, forget the fear take in your surroundings and keep walking. This most basic mode of transportation can blow your mind away… You will discover hidden creeks and trails and become a part of nature!
Why do I want to climb?
“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves” – Sir Hillary
This quote sums up my entire hiking/mountaineering experiences and forms my vision for the future.
Am I ready for Baker Summit?
I definitely feel ready mentally to conquer the Baker Summit. As for the physical aspect well…
I have gone on multiple training hikes to:
Tiger Mountain, Mount Si, Tenerife Mountain, Granite Mountain, Red Mountain, Camp Muir, St Adams
I plan on summiting Mt St Helens and there on conquering Mt Baker!
Some pictures from my latest hikes: Pics of training hikes here
Why with Asha?
Honestly my initial hikes were to explore the PNW and to see more. Then I came across Asha which made me think bigger. It’s not just about me – it’s about collectively supporting grass roots organizations who are working towards equal opportunities for all and anyone can get behind this idea by helping in their own way.
Asha is a secular, non-profit, and an all-volunteer driven organization working towards socio-economic change in India. Their main focus is to empower the marginalized communities through education primarily for women and children. The charity I am supporting – The GRAVIS project – is one such project supported by Asha and the Mt Baker Summit program for which I’m also a steward.
GRAVIS – My Campaign
The GRAVIS program is focused on improving the lives of villagers in the Thar Desert of Western India through children’s education, self-help groups for women, water-harvesting wells, and health camps. This short video shows what GRAVIS is all about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPrPDVLa49Q
My fundraising goal is $750. Please note my mountain climbing gear, travel, guide and other expenses are self-funded. 100% of the donations to Asha go directly to funding projects and are completely tax exempted… Talk about being rewarded for kindness! J
So please consider donating to Asha’s GRAVIS program and I will thank you every step of my climb to the summit, as will thousands of villagers in the Thar region!
Sound interesting? Want to donate? Well here goes:
You can donate using the ‘Donate’ button on this webpage.
Microsoft Employees can also donate via http://give for. Steps are as follows:
- Go to http://Give
- Click on “Give Money”
- Search for organization “Asha for Education, Seattle Chapter“
- Click “Add to Cart” and Continue
- If you have given a check, then select “Gift already made Money/Product/Stock given directly to org)”
- If you want to make the payment now, select “Make a new gift now (Donate online via credit card now)”
- Select “Match with cash” and enter the same amount as above.
- In the purpose you can write “2016 Asha Climbing Program – for Pradnya Mohite“. This is just an example, “Go Pradnya!” also works J
- Continue and Confirm to complete the transaction
Or donate via check made out to ‘Asha for Education’. Please include ‘Team Asha Climb 2016 –Pradnya Mohite’ behind the check (let me know when you donate via check to help me track the payment).
What will you get in return?
Besides a tax exemption you ask? Satisfaction that you donated towards a child’s education and women’s welfare in one of the poorest regions of India.
Besides that as a thank you from me I will attempt to cook your favorite dish if you live in the Greater Seattle area. And for those outside of Seattle… well use this as an excuse to visit the pacific northwest and I will whip up some yummies for your visit!
Everyone has charities they support and I will not know till I try how successfully I can steer people to support my cause. I am sure I will always have your good wishes even if you cannot donate at this moment. If I have inspired you to challenge yourself daily and do good, that will be my summit!
This is just the beginning of my self-conquest as I continue to keep climbing!
Thank you for reading