Neha Gupta is only thirteen-years-old, but she has more than earned her place as a Build-A-Bear Workshop Huggable Hero semi-finalist. Her charity, Empower Orphans, has raised about $33,000 dollars, and it’s only been around for about a year.
Neha herself, and her family, have been working with the Indian orphans that she built her organization to help for far longer. They travel from their home in Yardley, PA, to India to visit Neha’s grandparents every year, and every year they spend time working at a local orphanage. When Neha was nine, she tells Parent Dish, “I realized that the 200 children who live at the orphanage did not have adequate money to gain a proper education. I felt very sad when I heard this because I know the importance of education. Moreover, it was heartbreaking for me to think that these children had no mother or father to guide them, protect them or love them. I decided to take action by raising money.”
That decision has grown into an international nonprofit that currently supports orphaned children in India and the United States providing basic education, vocational training and health care. Neha plans to expand Empower Orphans to other countries soon. With the support of her parents, she’s making it happen.
Neha may have already started her own charity, but she’s also a normal kid. She loves tennis and singing and she’s a big fan of drawing and painting. When she grows up she plans to be a pediatrician working with orphaned and underprivileged children.
So what advice does Neha have to offer other kids? She tells Parent Dish:
“Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Just one person definitely has the ability to make a positive change in the lives of thousands in their community. Becoming that one person is quite easy if you convert your empathy into action.”
