GOONJ FOUNDATION http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2010/06/did-you-hear-the-goonj/ The eldest among four siblings, he came from a big middle-class family with limited resources. His upbringing taught him the relevance of making the most of the little. An understanding further imbibed from his mother who has played a profound influence in his life. A brilliant mind, he studied journalism as well as Advertising & Public Relations from Indian Institute of Mass Communication, and then Masters in Economics. While still a graduate student in 1991, he traveled to Uttarkashi, North India after a major earthquake. Missing out on his classes, he lived in tents for days and helped in the relief efforts. This shocked his urban sensibilities. After completing his studies, he joined the corporate sector. Insatiate, he craved for that feeling of satisfaction that went beyond one’s personal goal and self-interest. His longing to give back to society, do something different to benefit thousands and involve people’s participation inspired an idea. He ultimately left Escorts as Manager, Corporate Communications in 1998 to work full time on his idea.
Goonj, his dream for many years, was set up in the same year. From collecting clothes from his own house, relatives and friends and distributing them on the roads in the chilly winter nights of Delhi, his dream has come a long way. He has organized an effective distribution channel for disposing off reusable resources lying in urban, well-off households.
Through shifting surplus urban resources to some of the poverty-stricken rural areas, he is making a difference in the lives of thousands who lack the basic resources needed for survival. He has witnessed cases where a few pieces of clothing has freed up meager resources of the poor for more pressing needs and families being saved from a debt cycle for borrowing to buy clothes before a festival or even as a dire necessity. Clothes do not involve heavy investments, but protect millions from extreme weather, shelter the homeless from the elements. His nationwide movement ‘Vastradaan’ is geared toward this end. Working with local grassroots organization operating in rural areas, Goonj has built a network of about 60 distribution partners with bases in West Bengal, Assam, Uttaranchal, Kashmir and Jharkhand.
His uniqueness lies in thinking and putting in place an efficient, systematic distribution channel on a nationwide scale and the establishment of a nodal agency for generating vital resources for the rural poor. His idea is also the first effort where instead of focusing on a limited target group or limited product, he is trying to spread awareness at such a level that anytime an urban household thinks of disposing off reusable materials it is aware of a channel to its fullest utilization. His organization Goonj has a strong network of 300 Volunteers, works with corporate houses, schools, transporters, resident welfare associations, neighborhood communities and local grassroots organizations working in rural areas. Though Vastradaan operates as a continuous process, a part of his strategy has been also to focus on disaster preparedness. The idea is to spread the network in such a way that any time a disaster strikes, Goonj can reach them the relief material at the earliest. It made a difference in Gujarat riots where Goonj was able to collect truckloads of material within a few days’ time and support thousands. Beginning with 67 items of clothing from his own closet to initiate Vastradaan, he has been sending 3,000-5,000 kg of material every month. He has already reached out and benefited lakhs of people. He has meticulously linked the urban affluent and the rural poor. His idea tends to bridge the gap between the supply that exists due to the urban phenomena like space constraints and rising consumerism on one hand and demands for basic commodities that exists with millions in the country. His aim is to ultimately make large-scale resource mobilization a reality and to further apply his model with clothing to other critical resources such as medicines, books.
He inspires many in the revered eighteen-day national odyssey, Tata Jagriti Yatra. He is a change maker. He is an Ashoka Fellow. Dear reader, he is Anshu Gupta, the Founder of Goonj.

http://ngopost.org/story/join-hands-goonj-vastra-samman-part-joy-giving-week
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Join hands with GOONJ for 'VASTRA-SAMMAN' as a part of 'Joy of Giving' Week

Submitted by Smitha on Sep 20, 2009 | Tags: * clothes * donate * goonj * Useful Resources
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Read the complete story at: http://ngopost.org/story/join-hands-goonj-vastra-samman-part-joy-giving-week
Dear All,
People are calling it one of its kind campaign in the world and it might become the largest material collection drive ever..
GOONJ, is a voluntary organisation, known as one of the first organization worldwide to take up ‘Clothing” as a development subject. In the last ten years, GOONJ has been channelising the urban India’s underutilized material like clothing, school material, cloth sanitary napkins etc as development resources in far-flung villages of India.
GOONJ is initiating VASTRA-SAMMAN (dignifying clothing) a pan India campaign, to raise awareness & collect about one crore (10 million) units of material in the 'Joy of Giving Week' being celebrated across India from 27th Sept. to 3rd Oct
This means you will find thousands of kids getting school material, thousands of women getting napkins and also hundreds of roads getting repaired, lakhs of trees being planted, work on water bodies etc. across the country where people will receive this material as reward as a part of 'Cloth for work'.
Similar to earlier drives, we seek your active participation/contribution to this drive also, to make it a success.
Do visit http://www.goonj.info/Final_VASTRA-SAMMAN_-Sept.pdf for more details about 'VASTRA-SAMMAN' and how you can help for this cause.
Please note the following:
1) Individuals who would like to donate material can contact me directly during the campaign.2) Individuals who are interested to volunteer need to contact me at the earliest.3) Corporates/Organizations interested to participate should confirm before planning a collection drive, since I need to plan storage space for your material.
4) Most of you who have interacted with me know that I am also working, so please call me before you come home for donation or before you take up any mass initiative.
Looking forward for your support in spreading awareness about this campaign.
Thanks and Regards,Smitha 9986213181
(Bangalore GOONJ volunteer)
PS:More info about GOONJ and 'Joy of Giving' week is available at www.goonj.info and http://joyofgivingweek.org/ respectively.

http://www.globalonenessproject.org/blog/2008/07/02/goonj-wins-indian-ngo-year-award
Goonj, a volunteer-run recycling center in New Delhi—profiled in our short film “Not Just a Piece of Cloth”—was recently awarded the Indian NGO of the year award.
In April 2007, we spent a day at the Goonj headquarters talking with founder and director Anshu Gupta, who along with more than 300 individual volunteers and 100 grassroots agencies recycles and distributes over 20,000 kgs of material throughout India. Not only does Goonj collect and distribute large quantities of ready-to-go recycled materials, like clothing and blankets, but they also specialize in creative alterations, like children's backpacks made from old jeans, school notebooks from discarded paper and sanitary napkins from sheets and cloth.
Watch our short film "Not Just a Piece of Cloth" and then go to the Goonj website to learn more about their innovative project and how you cancontribute.

http://www.karmayog.org/ngonews/ngonews_24446.htm
Mumbai: Over the years, many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have sprung to take up the cause of bread and butter and esoteric issues like food, shelter, global warming and education.
A handful of them are into provision of clothing for the underprivileged. NGO Goonj is a distinctive resource mobilisation initiative providing clothes to millions in distant areas.
Goonj is the brainchild of Anshu Gupta and was started in 1998 with just 67 clothes. Now it sends out over 20,000 kg of material every month.
The philosophy of Goonj revolves around how one person's rags can indeed become someone else's necessities, especially in the context of India's gigantic urban-rural divide where more than 35% of the population lives below poverty line.
The NGO convinces people to donate old clothes, which are to be thrown away, the organisation processes them into finished garments. For example, tattered rags are processed into garments like socks etc.
What started as a small initiative on a chilly night in Delhi, has now spread its wings across 21 states in the country. The idea is to enable widespread distribution centres reaching scores of needy people.
The NGO has around 15 collection centres in the city alone. "We are overwhelmed by the response. Our first centre was set up in Andheri in November 2006 and now we have spread all across the city," says Rohit Singh, Goonj's Mumbai coordinator.
Each collection centre in a state looks after the neighbourhood areas. Collections from Mumbai are sent to central and western parts of the country.
The collection is sorted, restitched and distributed. Wearable clothes are sent to villages, worn out clothes are used to make quilts and sanitary pads for village women. "No piece of cloth is wasted. In villages sometimes, women share a piece of cloth during menstrual cycles which is unhealthy," adds Singh.
Cloth for work, started by the organisation, is a unique initiative which is attracting many unemployed rural youth. "It demands voluntary labour by villagers and in return for clothes and apparel. It is not charity and keeps a person's dignity intact, since one is repaid for the service rendered. The success of this concept is inspiring as several villages have come forward for their development. In Vidharbha, villagers built fences around their schools and temples, in return for clothes," informed Singh.
Another initiative, School to school collects old books, bags and shoes from the city and reaches out to students in villages. "Children discard bags and stationary according to fashion trends. We take this and give then to the needy," says Rohit.
So the next time you think of throwing away your old clothes, think of a person shivering on a footpath or in a village far away.
URL: http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1262880 http://www.resource-alliance.org/training/awards/370.asp
India NGO Awards 2007 | |
GOONJ.. named as Indian NGO of the Year!
The winners of the India NGO Awards 2007 were announced at the awarding ceremony at ITC Sheraton Saket in New Delhi on 5 March. There was one winner in each category – small, medium and large sized organisations – and one award for the best overall NGO.

The winners are:
Small Category: * GOONJ..
Medium Category: * A joint award between The Banyan and Childline India Foundation
Large Category: * CRY (Child Rights and You)
NGO of the Year 2007 * GOONJ http://www.resource-alliance.org/about_us/in_the_media/544.asp Goonj declared best NGO
Hindustan Times, New Delhi, 10 Mar 2008
GOONJ, a Delhi-based voluntary group, was selected as the NGO of the Year at the annual India NGO Awards function held in the capital on Saturday evening.
Giving away the awards, Union Finance Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram said the Awards encouraged the non-profit sector to work towards excellence and enhance their practices in accordance with the national policy on the voluntary sector.
N.R. Narayanamurthy, CEO and chief mentor, Infosys Technologies, shared the dais with the finance minister. The three national winners were Goonj in the small category the Banyan and the Childline Foundation of India tied for medium category and CRY – Child Rights and You in the large category. They were presented a trophy and a cash prize amount of Rs 4 lakh. Goonj was presented an additional prize amount of 2 lakh as ‘NGO of the Year’. The Awards ceremony was organised by Resource Alliance and the Nand and Jeet Khemka Foundation.
Simon Collings, CEO, Resource Alliance, during the ceremony, added, “India NGO Awards were launched with the aim of motivating NGOs in India, promoting financial and organisational stability and strengthening community support of civil society”.
Besides the top three awardees, Dream a Dream, Pragati, Society for Promoting Rationality (SPRAT), Raigarh Ambikapur Health Association (RAHA), SOS Children’s Villages of India, Aide and Action, Bharat Integrated Social Welfare Agency (Biswa), Centre for Environment Education (CEE) were also appreciated for their work.

VIDEO : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DefLzB46ZfE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czSlSbZVLiI&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h67CRrd2BKM&feature=related

http://goonj.org/ * http://jamshedpurjoyfest.blogspot.com/ http://www.khemkafoundation.org/awards/india-ngo-awards/archives/india-ngo-awards-2007/india-ngo-awards-2007-images/ingo07_goonj.jpg/view?searchterm=none
2007 India NGO Award Winner Goonj..
2007 Winners Goonj.., from left to right: Shri. N. R. Narayanamurthy, CEO & Chief Mentor, Infosys Technologies Ltd.; The Honorable Finance Minister Shri. P. Chidambaram, Mal Warwick, Chair, The Resource Alliance; Anshu Gupta, Director, Goonj.. and the rest of his Team

PDF : http://www.resource-alliance.org/documents/casebook_2007.pdf http://www.aajkikhabar.com/en/news/674669/674669.html New Delhi: Be a part of a mission make change in the life deprives by supplying old, torn, non-wearable, worn clothes to Goonj, a NGO. It is making best out of waste. You'll be surprised to find your tattered jeans being refashioned into a school bag, your old T-shirt into ladies' inner wear and old saris into skipping ropes, and even sanitary napkins.

NGO Goonj (www.goonj.org) has been collecting old clothes from city dwellers and turning them into useful products for the needy. Goonj, whose volunteers are spread out across 21 states, also collects old books, newspapers and magazines, copy books, toys and even plastic bottles.

"Several men and women in remote villages have no proper clothing, which is a basic dignity of a human being," Anushu Gupta, founder of Goonj, told IANS.

Over 100,000 homeless people live on the national capital's streets alone. Of them, at least 40,000 are women who don't have even a shelter to turn to, says Gupta.

The organisation has a force of 300 volunteers that works through a network of over 150 grassroots organisations to provide clothes and other basic amenities to millions in the far-flung villages. Before the annual floods and the onset of winter, Goonj gets busy - sending out appeals to people for old clothes, blankets and even medicines that can be used.

Gupta, who has worked among the disaster-hit and poor and needy, speaks of the difficult situation faced by rural women.

Many of the women die, he says, of infection and diseases due to lack of hygienic pieces of cloth to use during their menstrual period.

During winters, "hundreds of homeless people die, even in Delhi, during winter. They don't own blankets", he said

"Goonj not only provides clothing to the poor but turns the trash into usable products and help the needy. The rubbish given by many is transformed into useful products," Sushil Mishra, a volunteer of the organisation, told IANS.

Goonj, which began with just 67 pieces of cloth in 1998, today sends out 50 tonnes of cloth material across the country every month.

"Our demand is simple. We ask people to give any unused material lying in their homes, or office, which they don't feel like throwing away but don't need any more," said Gupta.

The NGO collects paper that is unused on one side, good quality plastic bottles, and distributes it to people in rural areas.

Wearable clothes are sent directly to villages, while the worn out ones are washed, ironed and transformed into quilts and sanitary napkins for village women.

Goonj's movement 'Cloth for Work' has helped many unemployed youth in villages.

"Our movement, Cloth for Work, has encouraged villagers to address their own development issues. In return for their labour we give them clothes, as motivation not as charity," Mishra said.

As part of such an initiative, residents of a Madhya Pradesh village, Salidhana, dug a well for the village, and in return they got clothes and ration items.

In Bihar's Madhepura district, residents built a bamboo bridge over a river where earlier 13 children had drowned while crossing the river on their way to school.

The NGO also collects school stationery items, old books, bags and shoes from children belonging to well-off families in cities and distributes them among needy students in villages.

"So, next time you discard your tattered clothes think of a person who lives in a remote village and send them to Goonj," says a volunteer.