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CORNELL BSA:NO LONGER ACCEPTING DONATIONS

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WE ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTING DONATIONS AS OF JULY 25, 2020. Thanks to everyone who donated. We will post more updates soon. 

The Bengali Students Association (BSA) at Cornell in partnership with #BacharLorai wants to provide immediate food relief to daily wage earners who have lost their jobs to COVID-19 and those who are on the verge of unemployment as well. 


This will be an ongoing initiative to create immediate impact, starting with two groups at this time:  


Garment workers in sweatshops in Savar and Ashulia who were laid off over the last few months. With national and international order cancellations, the workers haven’t been paid since March 2020. Eventually, many have resorted to begging and are not able to make enough money to sustain their families’ needs.


Adivasis  (Indigenous people of Bangladesh) of Bandarban Hill Tracts who are on the verge of losing their daily wage. The primary source of income for workers in this area comes from the influx of local and international tourists; the pandemic is grinding economic activity in the region to a halt. 


Cornell BSA and #BacharLorai will be working with one grassroots organizations, BEACON, who will complete the operations on the ground for the garments workers, and they will use one of their own teams for distribution of food to the indigenous people. 

EDIT: The supply of food for indigenous people was originally supposed to be completed by FoodForCovid, but due to medical reasons - some of the volunteers catching COVID - our supplier was changed. 

Your Help


- With your love and support we can stand beside those who are extremely disadvantaged during the pandemic as the struggle with their daily jobs in a regular scenario to begin with. 

- Please donate $30 which will help us feed a family of four for an entire month 

- Every donation will have a significant impact in their lives.

The entire amount raised will be sent to BEACON and Indigenous in Bangladesh.

Why donate to this campaign? 

In a little over two weeks, the number of confirmed cases has doubled to 85000  as of June 13, 2020 and continues to increase exponentially as more tests become available. Despite the ease of lockdown restrictions as of May 31st, daily wage earners, who face extreme financial instability even in the absence of this pandemic, continue to be out of work. Without savings and without unemployment insurance, these families are in urgent need of assistance. On top of all this, Bangladesh has recently been hit by Cyclone Amphan which has mostly damaged the homes of these vulnerable people, especially the indigenous people since they live near the world’s longest beach, Cox’s bazaar.


Bangladesh is a developing country with limited resources. Both the garment’s industry and the tourism industry are huge sources of income for the country. With Covid-19 and Cyclone Amphan hitting the country at the same time, the government has been unable to provide any sort of help to most of the laid-off workers. 


Summary of the initiative:

The grocery packages will be created in the store with proper packing and sanitization. 
Packages will be delivered to the doorsteps of families, especially those who are disabled
All the money raised through this campaign will be solely utilized towards purchasing groceries and any overhead operating cost will be covered by the organizer. 

Breakdown of our package:

Rice (15 kgs) – BDT 660
Lentils (2 kgs) – BDT 150
Cooking Oil (1 L) – BDT 105
Potatoes (3 kgs) – BDT 72
Onions (2 kg) – BDT 90
Antiseptic Soap (1 bar) – BDT 20
Salt (500g) - BDT 35

This totals to BDT 1132 (approximately $15) to feed a family of four for approximately two weeks. Please consider donating $30 to feed them for an entire month. 


Fundraising Team 

Fareeza Hasan - Rising senior at Cornell University double majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering and in Computer Science; President @CornellBSA. Residing in Queens, New York.

Nabiha Zaman - Rising sophomore at Cornell University majoring in Nutritional Sciences; Publicity Chair @CornellBSA. Residing in Queens, New York.

Mahdia Chowdhury - Rising junior at Cornell University majoring in Sociology and Economics; VP of internal relations @CornellBSA. Residing in Queens, New York.

Mohammed Ullah - Rising senior at Cornell University majoring in Human Biology, Health and Society; Treasurer @CornellBSA. Residing in Brooklyn, New York.

Amer Ahmed - Rising junior at Cornell University majoring in Human Biology, Health and Society; Secretary @CornellBSA. Residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Aaraf Ahmed - Recent graduate from University of Toronto with a bachelors in Global Health and incoming MPH at the same university; Founding member of #BacharLorai

The Bengali Students Association at Cornell  aims to promote Bengali culture on campus and actively strives to create an inclusive environment for the Bengali community. At the same time, the members of the organization believe that it is their duty to give back to their motherland and so, they use their platform to support vulnerable populations in Bangladesh through meaningful initiatives such as raising money for Bangladesh and building awareness among the student body and the larger Bengali community in the United States.

Additionally, we are using #BacharLorai to join in with other expat initiatives from across the world. It helps synergize our efforts and work towards a common goal. Feel free to join in on our movement #BacharLorai, and use it on your Social Media posts

Let's join arms and get through this crisis together. We are grateful for your support.

Fundraising team: Cornell BSA x #BacharLorai (5)

Fareeza Hasan
Organizer
East Elmhurst, NY
Amer Ahmed
Team member
Mahdia Chowdhury
Team member
Nabiha Zaman
Team member
Mohammed Ullah
Team member

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