February 2016
Laurie Kelley
Founder and President

Executive director Martha Hopewell and I love our semi-nomadic life--visiting families with bleeding disorders in far-flung places. In January Martha was off to India and I to the Dominican Republic, a tropical island country in the Caribbean. 

This was my 18th year visiting this country, and I treasured seeing "my boys" grown and working or attending school. Martha also witnessed the results of our scholarship and micro-enterprise grant programs in India. 

While Martha criss-crossed four south Indian states, I took a five hour ride to see one family on the coast of the Caribbean Sea. This is the heart of what Save One Life is and does--each family matters; each life is important. 

Please read about our programs and visits, and share OneVoice with colleagues. Know that your dollars, whatever amount, are magnified overseas to bring positive life changes to a child in need.

Laurie Kelley and the team at Save One Life  
ALNYLAM PHARMACEUTICALS
RAISES $50,000 FOR SAVE ONE LIFE!

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals of Cambridge, MA, set an outstanding precedent in corporate giving this past December. 

President Laurie Kelley and executive director Martha Hopewell were invited to present Save One Life at a lunch-n-learn at Alnylam's headquarters in early December, shortly before an annual fundraising event sponsored by their social leadership team. Save One Life had been selected by the team to be the beneficiary of the event.

On Friday, December 11, Alnylam held its holiday party and auction at La Laboratoire's Café ArtScience on Kendall Street in Cambridge. Over 100 items were offered, including dinners hosted by executives, vacation homes, sports tickets, access to wine cellars, hand-crafted items by employees and donations from local businesses. "Big ticket" items were auctioned off by a live auctioneer.

This was Alnylam's biggest auction ever, with hundreds of employees providing auction items, bidding and donating. Their fundraising result? An outstanding $50,000! 

The social leadership team decided to sponsor 20 children for five years, as well as contribute toward our scholarship, micro-enterprise grant and camp funds! What a boon for Save One Life!

We are so impressed by Alnylam's employee engagement, and thank each donor for making a generous difference in the lives of many children in need. 
 
President Laurie Kelley and executive director Martha Hopewell meet 
members of the social leadership team to receive proceeds from 
Alnylam Pharmaceutical's annual fundraising auction.

Assessing Our Scholarship and Micro-Enterprise Grant Programs in South India
 
From January 18 to 31 executive director Martha Hopewell traveled to India with a special mission: to assess the impact of Save One Life's first scholarships and micro-enterprise grants. These were awarded to  m e mbers of seven India program partner chapters in the states of Maharashtra, Tamil N adu, Kerala and Karnataka starting in 2012. 

With Usha Parthasarathy, Save One Life's India program coordinator, Martha personally interviewed 30 scholarship awardees and visited ten micro-enterprise grant recipients. It became clear with each visit that these  projects have a positive impact, bringing opportunity where otherwise there would be none.

The first scholarship interview was 24-year-old Nilesh Suryavanshi from Mumbai. Nilesh lost his older brother, Mahesh, in 2010 from illness due to a contaminated blood transfusion. Save One Life helped Nilesh pay for two out of a three-year master's degree in computer application.  After graduating in September 2014, Nilesh entered a six-month internship and immediately found employment in a small start up company. With his salary of $265 per month, Nilesh is paying the mortgage on a new home for his retired parents and supporting the family's living expenses. 

Executive director Martha Hopewell and India program coordinator Usha Parthasarathy with scholarship recipient Azeez Thoufeeq

Another touching story is Azeez Thoufeeq from Kerala. He was placed in an orphanage by his mother at the age of five because, as a housemaid, she felt she couldn't properly care for him. Azeez described the loneliness of living in an orphanage, as well as the difficulty of bleeds as he was expected to perform physically challenging chores. 

Azeez has completed his training to be a nurse and is about to receive his degree. Save One Life helped pay for the third of a three-year program and the expenses of an internship. When asked why he chose nursing, Azeez responded,"I spent so much of my childhood in the hospital, it feels like a second home. I can bring that experience to my work." 

Interviewing Mustaffa, who received a scholarship through Save One Life's sub-grant from Novo Nordisk Haemophilia Foundation

Save One Life was a sub-grantee of a three-year grant awarded to the University of Manipal by the Novo Nordisk Haemophilia Foundation to improve hemophilia care in the state of Karnataka. Save One Life's project addressed the empowerment of people with hemophilia through educational scholarships. Twenty students received support to pursue bachelor's and master's degrees. Martha and Usha attended the closing ceremony for IDEEA and distributed final scholarships to six students. 

Current and former scholarship recipients of the IDEEA project, 
of which Save One Life was a sub-grantee
 
Martha and Usha also journeyed into crowded city neighborhoods and country hamlets to visit ten micro-enterprise grant recipients. 

Micro-enterprise grant recipient 23-year-old Tarun Ledwani 
in his fabric shop
Grants have been used to support a number of activities--including tailoring and sewing, running small kiosks, vegetable vending and milk production.

Tarun Ledwani and his younger hemophilic brother, Haresh, lost their mother tragically in 2010. In March 2015 Tarun received a $1,000 grant to establish his own fabric shop. Less than a year later Tarun has successfully teamed up with a partner (who doesn't have hemophilia) to sell fabric ensembles for the popular women's outfit called "salwar kameez." A wholesale distributor, Tarun travels to local retail shops to sell his wares. Before launching his business, Tarun earned about $66 per month as a fabric shop attendant. Today, he earns double that amount, which helps him care for his grandmother and Haresh, who often assists in the shop. 

Six of the grantees visited were mothers in Tamil Nadu who purchased cows. In only one case was there a problem, when a cow and her calf died from the torrential rains and flooding that hit areas of Tamil Nadu in December. For the others, their cows' milk is not only producing valuable revenue, but also helping to improve nutrition for the family. 

One mother, Ganga, a farm laborer earning about $75 a month, is proving to be an astute businesswoman. The cow she purchased in 2014 has already had a calf, and is pregnant again. She plans to inseminate the calf in a year, so that both animals will produce milk. Ganga has calculated that this will generate about $80 in additional monthly revenue for the family. And, she added, "I consider my calves as an investment worth about $100 each!" No wonder her 15-year-old hemophilic son, Nimalraj, is a whiz at math! He wants to be an aeronautical engineer!

India program coordinator Usha Parthasarathy interviewing Vasantha, 
who purchased a cow and two goats with her $800 grant

Would you like to help?

Click here to support a scholarship student
or micro-enterprise grant!
Welcome New Sponsors!
Jonathan Alves
James Arriola
Andy and Lorraine Bardolf
Charley Conley
Rodney Dalrymple
Employees of Alnylam    Pharmaceuticals
Lorin Fentress
Lovell and Helen Floyd
Kausar Jabbar
Carmen Langdon
Fiona MacIntosh
Mah Family
Jaycee McCain
Trent and Leslie McKay
Elizabeth Rice

We thank these current sponsors who took additional beneficiaries:

Andrea Echavez
Laurie Kelley
Erin Kilts
Glenn and Beatrice Pierce
SABHA
Jennifer Speaks

We welcome the Employees of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and SABHA to our Dedication Circle of sponsors with ten or more beneficiaries!
CLICK HERE 
T O READ ABOUT LAURIE KELLEY'S TRIP TO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC!

TO SEE HER PICTURES, CLICK HERE

LAURIE AND ANGEL

A Boy to Sponsor

Save One Life beneficiaries face the tough challenge of poverty with a bleeding disorder.  

An annual sponsorship is $264. Save One Life sends 90%, or $240, overseas to assist the beneficiary and his patient organization.

Show someone you care! 
Please sponsor today!
Juman, 10, India
Letters
I do not know how I can adequately convey my gratitude to you or to Save One Life through this letter. You have changed my vision and my dreams. I also thank  Usha Parthasarathy, who convinced me of the importance of my life, my duties to my parents and to fellow hemophilia brothers.

Once more, I thank you for myself and on behalf of my family for your kind and great support of my education.

Kannan K.S. 
Kunnamkulam, India
__________________________

I would like to discontinue receiving my sponsorship, as  I am now working at Capital One as a senior representative. I feel it is fair to share the blessings of my sponsorship with another hemophilic patient who needs help, in hopes that someday he might finish his studies and find a good job, too!

Thank you Save One Life and my sponsor for the help you have given to me. I would not have gotten this far if you had not extended your help to the Philippines.Your unconditional love is amazing!

Jeffrey Rodriguez
Manila, Philippines
In Memoriam
We are very sad to share news of the loss of Andrew Kimutai Juma, 13, from Kenya. He passed on January 9 from an internal bleed.  
Save the Date! 

Save One Life's 15th Anniversary Gala 
will take place in New York City on 
Thursday, September 29

Mark your calendar!!
Details to follow

2016  Corporate Sponsors

We acknowledge these corporations for their valuable operational support: 


Platinum






Gold




Silver



 

 

Your Save One LIfe Team

Martha Hopewell, Tricia Sico, Lani Aldrich and Kristy Burns
Save One Life, Inc. 
  martha@saveonelife.nethttp://www.saveonelife.net
65 Central Street,  Georgetown, MA 01833