Raised
$3,237,690.97
Progress
Goal
$4,000,000

Akash's Libraries

$229,901

Akash couldn’t have the opportunities we were ready to provide him, so we’d like to provide that opportunity for other children. --Our son, Akash Bhattacharya Saha, was brought into our armsMore...
4 MEMBERs

Special Thanks To

Room to Read

We want to ensure every child has access to a high-quality education, with appropriate grade-level texts, a library budding with books, and a safe classroom with teachers helping them resist pressure to drop out for work or marriage. We're creating world change that helps historically low-income communities break the cycle of poverty by improving literacy rates and ensuring students get one step closer to graduation day and the lives they choose for themselves. 

 


Akash couldn’t have the opportunities we were ready to provide him, so we’d like to provide that opportunity for other children. 

--

Our son, Akash Bhattacharya Saha, was brought into our arms without a heartbeat on April 5, 2014, weighing 6 pounds and measuring 20 inches, at full term. Despite this unexpected and tragic turn of events, it was a true blessing to welcome him into our family. We are confident that he knew he was loved. 


For the 40 gestational weeks we carried him, Akash filled us with love, gave us great hope, and allowed us to dream big. He brought us immeasurable joy in his all too short life, and it seems only appropriate to properly commemorate his spirit and preserve his legacy. Akash (Ah-kahsh) means "the sky” or “limitless.”


The day after losing Akash, the idea of Akash’s Libraries was born. Passionate about education and the opportunities we had hoped to provide Akash, we were inspired to build libraries for economically disadvantaged children across the developing world.


*We have committed to building a series of school libraries dedicated to Akash’s memory.* 


Akash’s libraries will be established in conjunction with Room to Read, a charity we have long supported and trust. 


Our plan: We have already built 21 libraries in 5 years across India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam! These libraries reach and serve over 11,000 children. We plan to build at least 1 additional library every year on Akash's birthday! We also hope to eventually expand the reach of Akash's libraries into Cambodia, Laos, Bangladesh, and Africa. More dollars – no matter the amount – means more libraries for deserving children and communities. The sky’s the limit!


Akash inspired us to dream big. Similarly, we have faith that Akash’s libraries will bring immeasurable impact and opportunity to countless deserving children and communities through their existence. In these illiterate, poverty-stricken areas, education is a child’s ticket out. Akash’s Libraries are truly changing lives and generations! 


Everyday, the children of Akash’s Libraries run into the library and race towards the bookcases for something to read. In Akash’s Libraries, children read in freedom, sing songs, learn, engage, and freely experience their childhood. Akash’s spirit shines bright and lives on in these thousands of smiling faces around the world. 


Please consider joining us to share Akash’s legacy with children that hope for the chance of an education, and a safe space to experience it. Together, we can pay opportunity forward and make a difference in these children’s lives! 


Please feel free to share Akash’s Libraries with anyone you believe may be interested. All donations are tax deductible.


All our love,

Arati and Anu


--

2014: 10 libraries built in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam

2015: 3 libraries built in India and Vietnam

2016: 1 library built in India

2017: 4 libraries built in India

2018: 2 libraries built in India

2019: 1 library built in Vietnam

2020: 1 library built in India



Your Contact Details

Donation Amount:

Donation Amount:

Secured by RapidSSL $10,000 Warrenty GreatNonProfits Top-Rated Nonprofit

Processing donation...
loading