In today’s world of mostly ‘gimme’ and ‘take’, there are heroes working hard and selflessly to making the world a better place. Be it eradicating child labor by educating children and their families, or fighting for a cure for cancer, or providing those falling on hard circumstances a chance to get back on their feet, all of them are focused on giving those feeling hopeless, hope for their future.
Jigyaasa is committed to helping these every day heroes and organizations doing their part. A part of every single purchase of any Jigyaasa brand product goes back to these worthy causes. Not only are our customers getting great test prep software and helping their careers, they can feel good about helping others less fortunate.
Meet our heroes:
Local Hero for Team in Training – Dave Bevilacqua
David Bevilacqua is someone we know personally. His smiling face is well recognized in the neighborhood. Dave never passes anyone without a cheerful “Hello” and his smile is as wide as the Grand Canyon!
Dave was diagnosed with Waldenstroms Non Hodgkins Lymphoma back in 2006, a rare blood cancer that is treatable but not curable. In addition, he has osteoporosis in most of his body and over a 50% hearing loss. Dave finished his last chemo treatment in January of 2010, but his legs are still numb and his feet are in constant pain. Most people would consider just surviving a major accomplishment and it definitely is! But like so many cancer survivors, Dave has a different perspective on life. Thankful for the new lease on his life, he wanted to give back. Since 2010, he has trained with The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society aka Team in Training, and run in over half a dozen marathons raising tens of thousands of dollars for a cure. Team in Training funds about 10 full time researchers at UCSF, Stanford and other SF Bay Area Hospitals in finding a cure for cancer. Read more on Dave’s personal TNT page.
Why Jigyaasa believes in Dave and TNT, everyday heroes who inspire us with their true stories of survival, hope, and courage. Life is meant to be lived – they everyday heroes like Dave show how!
St. Jude’s
Who hasn’t heard of St. Jude’s? A pediatric treatment and research facility like few others, discoveries made here have completely changed how the world treats children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. The research and patient care facility under one roof, has helped Jude’s researchers inspire hope in these children and their families.
Why Jigyaasa believes in St. Jude’s: There are two reasons Jigyaasa is proud to support St. Jude’s. The first is the primary driving force behind St. Jude’s mission – that no child should die in the dawn of life. Two, St. Jude founder Danny Thomas believed that immigrant Americans have a lot to be thankful for. When time came to be concerned about funding the annual operating costs for St. Jude’s, Danny rallied Americans of his heritage to raise money for this worthy cause. He believed this would be a fitting way of giving back to the country that had done so much for him and his parents. Regardless of the differences in heritage, Jigyaasa agrees that giving back to our fellow countrymen is the best way to honor to your country.
Pratham USA
Pratham’s mission is a worthy one – “Every child in school and learning well”. Pratham, meaning “first: in Sanskrit was founded in 1994 with UNICEF support. With the support of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Pratham launched the Read India campaign, an innovative, low-cost effort to reach the 100+ million under privileged children in India between the ages of 6-14 who cannot read, write or do basic math. Today, the program has reached millions of children in both the urban slums and the villages of India giving hope to these children and their families for a better future. The programs are typically run in spaces provided by the community and are conducted by members of the community. Pratham USA is a 4 star charity. Learn more at www.prathamusa.org and www.pratham.org .
Why Jigyaasa believes in Pratham – we know that the only hope for under privileged children to get out of the vicious cycle of child labor, and into a world of hope, is education. The only place a child should have to work hard at, is at school.
Urban Ed
Urban Ed is a Washington D.C based organization whose mission is to provide hope by educating people using technology. They use technology to help people who have fallen under financial hardship to gain marketable workplace skills in the information technology field and help the children of these families who are not scoring at proficient in school gain academic enrichment in the key subjects. For more information, visit http://www.urbaned.org/6_about_urbaned.html
Why Jigyaasa believe in Urban Ed? Simple. We believe in their motto, “Opportunity doesn’t come, it’s here”.
