India Interest Group: Global Day of Service

Dear Fulbright Alumni, Grantees, Chapter Leaders, and other Friends of Fulbright,

The Fulbright India Interest Group invites you to join us in two Global Days of Service in the coming academic year. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s suggestion to “Be the change you want to see in the world,” Fulbright grantees, alumni, and friends of Fulbright around the world will join together wherever they are, to support peace-building initiatives, charitable organizations, community efforts, and social change.

The first FIIG Global Day of Service will be held on Saturday, October 5, in celebration

of Gandhiji’s birth on October 2 (Gandhi Jayanthi.) While we encourage participants to consider supporting an organization somehow connected to India for this day of service, we leave the choice of beneficiary up to you. We will provide a list of vetted organizations in India that you might decide to raise funds for—but it is by no means a limiting list. Perhaps you’d like to organize a bake sale, a performance, or a community yard sale to raise funds for one of these organizations. Maybe you’d rather volunteer in your own community: serving at a food bank, a soup kitchen, cleaning up a park, or reading to children at the library. We are happy to offer ideas and excited to hear yours! The point is to spend the day (or part of the day) in service to something you feel passionate about.

Our second FIIG Global Day of Service will take place on Martin Luther King Day (Monday, January 20, 2025.) We encourage you to think of this celebration of Dr. King’s birthday as a “Day On, Not a Day Off.” Many colleges and organizations will spend the day doing community service. Perhaps you will choose to join an already planned effort or create your own!

See the link on the flyer to sign up. This form will simply keep track of how many people are participating in our group’s sponsored effort. For now, we ask you to start to imagine how your chapter, your group of friends, your church, your school, or simply you yourself can join us in serving others. We ask you to tell people that you are participating in FIIG’s Global Day of Service wherever possible. And we ask you to take pictures—so that we have a record of people all over the world joining together to help make the world a better place.

Save the dates: Saturday, October 5, 2024, and Monday, January 20, 2025. Join for one or both! And thank you, in advance, for helping to make this inaugural effort of the India Interest Group a success!

Questions? Contact: indiainterestgroup@fulbright.org