Young Edge: How a bunch of youngsters in Pune are leading a non-profit organisation engaged in community welfare

The team has at least one flagship event for every objective. “We have an ongoing tutoring project at SNEH Foundation for students who come from a poor background, and Project Kalpana, in collaboration with Sant Ishwar Foundation, which is focused on skill development in storytelling and delivering speeches,” Chopra adds.

Donating essential supplies also plays a large role in Konnekt’s outreach. “We donated over 80 education kits, and conducted our regular food donation drive through which we’ve donated 80+ meals till this quarter. We also regularly visit Majha Ghar Ashram…we ensure that we make them feel like a part of our family,” Chopra points out.

Konnekt began when Archana Athalye, founder of Kulture Kool, a New-Jersey-based cultural centre, returned to India for a few months in 2019, and had an eye-opening conversation with her friend, Rupal Sancheti. “Our children were entering high school then, and we were worried that the youth was becoming highly individualised. We thought about starting something that would allow them to contribute to their community,” she says.

Upon Athalye’s return to the United States, she reached out to other parents with 13- to 14-year-old children and discussed the importance of youth-led community service. “While children are self-discovering and understanding how they fit in with their friends, we also wanted to help them find out how they fit in with the larger society,” says Athalye.

This idea gave rise to Konnekt Global, which Athalye registered as a non-profit organisation in February 2020, before the pandemic hit the world. In September 2020, Sancheti’s daughter, Zoya Bhargava, began the Pune Chapter of Konnekt Global.

Apart from Pune, Konnekt has plans to open a chapter in Mumbai. Globally, Konnekt has chapters in New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Chicago, Boston, and Melbourne.

The author is an intern at the Indian Express