Sandeep Lingam | Asha Seattle

Sandeep Lingam

I have always been passionate about hiking, climbing and experiencing some of the wonders nature has to offer. Pacific northwest has some spectacular mountains and volcanoes to offer and climbing a few of these has always been a dream of mine. Every year that I have thought about doing this, there was a reason to procrastinate. This was a tough year for everyone. A lot of us experienced a lot of “inconvenience” – lock down, social distancing, no schools, no malls, no movie theaters, no gyms, masks. However, some people faced extreme difficulties and hardships – loss of jobs, loss of a home, lack of meals – basic necessities. To help in whatever small way I can, I partnered with the non-profit organization – Asha to raise money by doing something I already like – climbing a few of the mountains in Washington including Mt. Rainier. I climbed Mt. Baker and Earl/Bean peaks in June and intend to climb a few more. The way this works – I pay for the climb personally and help raise hopefully much more for Asha. I would really appreciate it if you can participate in this by donating to Asha.

For every donation you make to this cause, I will match the donation to a charity of your choice. Please email me the details once you donate here.

COVID-19 Relief Efforts

In this time of unprecedented crisis, our volunteers on the ground, at great risk to themselves, are taking enormous efforts to help the needy. Some of these include:

Our volunteers in Varanasi are distributing survival essentials to hundreds of families under lockdown! They also ensure the government schemes reach the most rural communities.
250+ families belonging to the Musahar, Dalit and other backward communities in Nagepur, Uttar Pradesh were provided with essential supplies for one month.
300+ underprivileged communities in Bhilai, Chattisgarh were provided with dry ration and several people who were on the road walking to their villages were provided with meals.
100+ families mostly comprising of daily wage laborers, transgender communities in Tirlokpuri, Delhi who do not have a ration card were provided with dry ration for 1 month.
500+ families of migrant laborers in Kanpur were provided with dry ration for a month.

About Asha for Education:

Asha for Education is among the top 1% of nonprofits in the USA which are rated 4-on-4 stars and received a perfect score of 100 on Charity Navigator. Asha operates with very minimal overhead. 97% of your donations go to benefit the education of underprivileged children in India.

Education in India comes with a lot of diverse issues. The problems in this sector esp in under-served communities need local solutions. Asha for Education works closely with multiple grass-root level projects in India striving to bring a change in the local communities. The projects include

home and education for orphaned children
improving the quality of education in government schools using innovative teaching-learning methods incl technology
support for the education of special needs children
care and education for children rescued from or at-risk of child trafficking

and more.

How can you help?

Our volunteers and projects need our support now more than ever to continue to help these families. PLEASE CONSIDER DONATING TO THOSE IN DESPERATE NEED: An amount of 40$ – will help provide dry ration for a family of 4 for 1 month.

Credit Card: Please click the ‘Donate’ button on this page
Check: Please write the check, in favor of “Asha For Education” and mention 2020 Climbing, Seattle in the memo field. Please send the check directly to:Asha for Education, Seattle Chapter,
PO Box 398080
San Francisco, CA 94139 – 8080and drop me an email

Company Matching: You can double the impact of your donation by getting it matched from your company. Most of the companies match donations by employees to Asha for Education. Please check with your company and let us know. Asha will then contact your company. All donations are 100% tax-deductible (Tax Id 770 45 9884).