DFW Parents Make Philanthropy a Family Affair

For her sixth birthday, Anusha Chepuri wanted a big party with cupcakes but insisted that she didn’t want any presents. Inspired by her older brother Nikhil, who had foregone gifts for his birthday the previous year, she asked friends and family to donate to Pratham in lieu of buying her gifts. Her altruism raised over $800 to help kids in India.

The siblings learned about Pratham from their parents, Tanya and Suman Chepuri, who are active supporters of the chapter, and through their participation in the annual Pratham USA Readathon, where kids in the US read books to raise awareness and funds to help disadvantaged kids in India learn to read, write and do arithmetic.

The idea came from their friends Manav and Nirali Kapadia, who have been doing this for seven years and have raised over $5000 for Pratham. Not surprisingly, their parents are also involved with Pratham – mom Manisha happens to be the local Readathon coordinator while dad is the chapter president.

“Our kids grow up with so much. It’s important to us they learn to help others who are less fortunate than them,” said Suman. “The chapter here in Dallas makes a real effort to engage the kids. It makes volunteering fun when the whole family’s involved.