SAN FRANCISCO – Indo-American Teen Neha Gupta, from Yardley, Penn., was recently announced as a 2011 World of Children Award recipient for her extraordinary success in providing some of the world’s impoverished orphans with lifesaving care.
Gupta began volunteering in orphanages while visiting her grandparents in India when she was only nine years old.
Realizing that the orphans were receiving neither a proper education nor the love and guidance of a parent, she was moved to do more and founded Empower Orphans, which strives to help orphaned and underprivileged children gain a basic education and become productive members of society.
Since that time, the all volunteer-run Empower Orphans has served more than 10,000 orphans in India and the United States by establishing health clinics, libraries, computer labs and sewing centers, and providing the orphans with food, schooling, books, bicycles, clothing and other basic necessities.
Gupta has also motivated her peers to follow suit by developing teams of youth volunteers in the United States, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and India, and will soon expand Empower Orphans to Africa and other Asian countries this year.
“The experience and fulfillment that I have received by making a difference in the lives of orphaned and underprivileged children, is incomparable to any other experiences I have had or any accolade or gift that I have received,” Gupta said in an interview last year with Tootlee.
“By interacting with the community, I have gained confidence, marketing, and communication skills. Accepting rejection and persevering despite it, is just part of the process. Through becoming involved with issues at hand in the world, it has opened my eyes to the level of poverty and challenges faced by people.”
Having been selected as a 2011 World of Children Award winner, Gupta will be flown to New York City for special recognition Nov. 2 along with brand-name New York dignitaries and powerhouses in fashion, philanthropy, publishing and finance to receive a cash grant to further expand her nonprofit’s work.
The World of Children Awards program is the only global recognition and funding non-profit that recognizes individuals who are changing the lives of children around the world.
