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From Switzerland to Nepal on foot: A man’s journey for a cause
As a kid, if anyone asked me what I wanted to become, my answer varied every year, or should I say each quarter. As I grew, I did not have a concrete answer, but I knew I liked basketball as a sport and accounts as a subject. In no time, I started pursuing Chartered Accountancy. I completed the course with a lot of determination and perseverance while working at an audit firm. I realized this was not my calling and I was still trying to figure out what was. I transitioned my field from Accounting to Advertising, which was a huge step, and I never looked back and regretted any of my decisions.
In fact, I had the opportunity to learn about two different industries and starting my own nonprofit. I had immense satisfaction and joy connecting different people to the act of giving and helping out organizations with resources and volunteering time. This led to the regular events at The KTM Drive. Having said that, I was still figuring out my calling all these years. The move from K-town to the Bay area made me realize a lot of options I could choose from. My experience in radio, the unconditional bond with the kids at the nonprofit, my role as an account executive, there were all these options I could try and explore. I applied to radio stations and advertising companies, but something did not fall in place. I thought to myself that I should explore the sector of Corporate Social Responsibility too.
Little did I know, there was so much in this zone to discover as I spoke to more and more people. It was very different than what I had seen in The KTM Drive. The non-profits had set volunteering slots and for some of them, there was a background check requirement. Yes, that’s right, check for volunteering and helping. I was surprised as you guys are but I gave my documents and went to the nearby police station to give my finger-prints for teaching computers at the Mt. View Senior Centre. I wanted to help more and that’s when I started working with Goodera. With Goodera’s technology platform, corporate businesses increase and track their social impacts and volunteering engagement. This was great and I got the opportunity to build relationships with different nonprofits. I volunteered for 150 hours, and realized there was so much help needed this side of the world too, probably not in terms of resources but definitely time. I went to different non-profits across various cause areas and onboard the nonprofits in our platform so more employees could volunteer.
The concept of soup kitchens, food banks were new to me and it felt like there was help for food until I read that one in four people in San Francisco struggle with hunger. This is when I started questioning what could go wrong. I started talking to more people relevant to this area and came to the conclusion that there is no one thing that causes homelessness here. People are not born poor they become poor. It is a mixture of various elements. There are so many areas that need help, homelessness just being one.
As I go forward in this journey and explore more, I believe that each person reading this article or anywhere in the world wants to give, in any form. And the world would be such a great place if everyone did, and there was a power which allowed them to. When I say this imagine yourself to be of help in any part of the world and know that you are making a difference in someone's life. I can say we all want this because we are the ones who have enough.
