Recently we have noticed several reports that poor individuals from religious minority groups have been refused relief because of their religion.  We have also received requests for financial assistance from two orphanages with religious minority orphans who have been suffering from daily food crises and have been declined help from other non-profit organizations because of their religious identity.

If you know just a few resource-poor families, you can just send money to them yourself.  That is true.  However, what if you know an area that has hundreds of impoverished families?  You may be able to afford helping 5 to 10 families, but not all.  However, with a coordinated effort, we can try to offer assistance to more people of this area.

Regardless of family size, our initial aim is to provide BDT 3,000 per family which should cover roughly one month of expenses.  The amount per family may be revised depending on the total amount raised and the number of beneficiaries.  However, we aim to maintain an equal amount to each family. The amount of relief to each orphanage will likely range from BDT 10,000 to 25,000, depending on the severity of food crisis for the orphans.  The reason we are providing cash instead of directly providing food is to avoid time-consuming physical barriers in sending materials.

Our hope is that each donor will be able to contribute at least $50 CAD (~BDT 3000), which can support one family for about a month.  However, because we aim to help hundreds of families and children living with hunger and the need is paramount, we greatly value larger contributions by those who can afford more.  Of course, we don’t discourage smaller donations of any amount.

Yes.  Due to our mission being very time-sensitive, we ask you to send your contribution to your Regional Coordinator or the Fundraising Finance Coordinator Rajib Dey (rajib1682@yahoo.com) by Saturday, May 2^nd, 2020.  This is vital to get the money to the beneficiaries on time.  We may continue the initiative for several weeks depending on the amount of money raised and the need in Bangladesh.”

Regional Coordinators from each major Canadian city will collect the money (via e-Transfer or cash) from the donors.  Regional Coordinators will then e-Transfer the money to the Fundraising Finance Coordinator, Rajib Dey in Toronto, who will send this money via MoneyGram to the Fundraising Country Coordinator in Bangladesh, Rabindranath Sarkar.  Finally, Mr. Sarkar will distribute the allocated endowment through bKash, a Bangladeshi electronic money transfer system.

You may send your contribution to any of the Regional Coordinators or Rajib Dey (rajib1682@yahoo.com).

The orphanages are our first priority, and so we aim to provide a bigger amount to each of them, such as BDT 10,000 to 25,000.  While orphanages are just one type of hotspot for food scarcity, there are many others that we do not know of, such as many religious minority families living in the jeleparas of Cox’s Bazaar.  Some contributors will feel inclined to help families they know who are living with food scarcity in an effort to follow public health directives to stop working. 

Thus, if you happen to know individuals/families from the places where you were born, raised or worked in Bangladesh who have been going through a scarcity of food, you may send us a list of up to 20 families and their contact information.  In the event of funding shortages, we may request you to shortlist a smaller number based on the level of severity of their financial hardships.

All information on the fundraising and relief distribution will be accessible on the website of the DBTF http://dreambetter.org/, where a list of donors with their respective contribution(s) and a list of beneficiaries will be updated continuously.  Donors can verify if the intended beneficiaries have received the money. Also, if the donor should wish, he/she will remain anonymous.

Inaugurated in 2016, the DBTF is helping 21 impoverished, religious minority college-age students finish their post-secondary education and lift their families above the poverty line.  One of these students’ mothers committed suicide.  Another works as a servant (kajer bua).  The students did not see any hope of prosperity in their lives before the DBTF picked them up.  Our work is helping them raise their families above the poverty line.  Three students have already graduated and one has a job in nursing.

This was possible through several scholarships under the names of some our donors’ parents, multiple fundraising programs and donations by affiliates in general.  See the scholarships at http://dreambetter.org/home/for-students and the attached brochure from a past fundraising event in Edmonton to learn.