Neha Gupta

Grade 12, Yardley, Pennsylvania

"Choose a cause that YOU are passionate about and make an impact."

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Project: Empower Orphans

Neha Gupta comes from a long line of social activists. Her maternal great-great-grandmother worked with Mahatma Gandhi to free India from Great Britain’s rule. Her father’s family helped feed and educate children in an orphanage in their hometown in India.

Neha was 9 years old when she started volunteering at an orphanage while visiting her grandparents in India. Through that experience she began to understand what orphans there faced. They couldn’t afford to go to school, had no access to medical care, and had no families or homes to return to.

They also lived in fear of turning 16, the age when they had to leave the orphanage. Having no place else to go, many became victims of violence, disease, and crime. In order to survive, these young people sometimes committed crimes themselves. It seemed to be an unbreakable cycle that was repeated around the globe. The United Nations estimated there were 145 million abandoned children worldwide, meaning a lot of young lives were in need of assistance.

Neha wanted to do her part, so back home in Yardley, Pennsylvania, she took toys she no longer played with and sold them in a garage sale, putting the money to use to help others. But it wasn’t long before she began thinking bigger: She wanted to break the cycle of poverty through education. Neha formed a nonprofit organization called Empower Orphans to help children around the world become self-sufficient.

Through her organization, which attracted donations and sponsorships from major corporations and foundations, Neha was able to set up computer labs, libraries, and sewing centers in India. With access to such resources, underprivileged children could learn skills that allowed them to find jobs as adults. Because of India’s caste system, which separates people into different social classes, many people had never before had access to the kinds of resources that Empower Orphans provided.

One girl in India who received a sewing machine invited Neha to her home—a single room shared by five people. She told Neha that after she had learned to sew she could afford to give her family electricity. That allowed her to work at night and let her brother study to pass his electrician’s exam. Both children added to the family’s finances because of Neha’s help.

Empower Orphans also offered healthcare resources and living necessities to children in need. Neha created an eye and dental clinic that provides care to more than 300 children. She also installed a well and water purification system. The well delivered clean drinking water for thousands of people.

The organization made an impact closer to Neha’s home as well. Throughout the state of Pennsylvania, it donated home furnishings, diapers, clothes, shoes, bicycles, and food to thousands of children.

By the time she was a senior in high school, Neha had won numerous awards for her efforts, including the prestigious World of Children Award and the Congressional Award Gold Medal. As the head of Empower Orphans she continued to look for opportunities to widen her influence, with plans to establish more libraries and computer labs at underprivileged schools. She also wanted to double the number of children whose education costs were paid by her organization.

With plans to become a physician and serve underprivileged children around the world, Neha said the experiences she had and the people she met and helped were unforgettable. “They have shaped who I am,” she said. “Empower Orphans has allowed me to find my voice and to speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves.”

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