Contribute

Contributing material to FREEDOM SHIKSHA FOUNDATION

Q: What all can I give/contribute?

Ans: You can give more or less anything, which is not being used at your home, office or community and could be of use to another. We take clothes, household items, stationary, old news papers, one side used paper, furniture, bedding, export surplus, generators, medicines, dry ration, blankets etc. You can refer to the suggestive list of material and certain dos and don’ts around giving. And for specific queries please check with us before sending any material which is not mentioned here.

Q; I want to contribute material to FREEDOM SHIKSHA FOUNDATION someone come and pick it up from my place?

Ans; Kindly note that we do not have a mechanism for picking up material from individual households or entities, given our limited resources.  To know more you can write to… link

Q: Can you pick up material from home, office, school or college etc.

Ans: As a policy we don’t pick up material from individual homes. There are dropping centers in some parts of the cities where we work. You can go and give material at a center close to you. In case of schools, colleges, other institutions and corporates, since they have the means and the access to their own transportation, we request them to consider the dropping of material as the organization’s contribution towards our work. Transportation- inter and intra city, is one of the biggest costs in our work.

Q: I have heard that you also take old newspapers and other waste papers like magazines, brochures, and one side used paper etc. What do you do with these things?

Ans: The old newspapers are either turned into paper bags of different sizes or sold to raise funds for our work. The one side used paper, brochures, magazines etc are used for making notebooks for rural kids and writing pads.

Q: Will you issue an acknowledgement of material I contribute?

Ans: We will issue an acknowledgement for material received but cannot give specifics of the material i.e. how many clothes, how many shirts etc. Since we get material in big quantities everyday, we feel it will be a waste of precious limited manpower and resources. On the other hand if you provide details of material you give, we will be happy to acknowledge that.

Q: If I contribute in kind will I get a receipt?

Ans: Please refer earlier answer.
Q: Will I get tax exemption on my contribution in kind?

Ans: Under the Indian government rules you won’t get any tax exemption on material contribution.
Q: If I pay you for the transportation, will you be able to send someone for pick up?

Ans: If we know of a transporter who will pick up your material and bring it to our processing center, we will let you know his details and you can talk to him directly about the charges etc.
Q: Can you give me the feedback regarding whereabouts of my material?

Ans: Since we are dealing with vast quantities of material it is impossible for us to say where exactly each individual’s material has gone. What we can tell you is where all did we send material in the last month or last 3-6 months.
Q: Can you distribute material in my area?

Ans: Before we distribute material in any area we need to get basic details of the recipients. Also since we give material under Dignity for Work initiative (earlier known as Cloth for Work), we need to partner with a local organization who can connect with the community and bring them together for doing community work. In case of school material or for disasters we still need to know basic information like how many people, age groups, male/female etc details. If you can provide these details and identify a credible local organization willing to take up the initiative, why not?

Q: Can I come with you in the community where you are working?

Ans: You are most welcome to travel with our team members when they go on field visits but a) you will have to work according to their schedule b) the facilities and the living conditions at the community are the most basic, so be prepared for some rough living. Let us know about your free dates and if there is someone traveling at that time, we will let you know.