Update: Nashua Girl Collecting School Supplies For Needy Children

Update: Aarika Roy, founder of The Kind Yogis, has begun making donations to children in need around Nashua. Here's a quick note on Facebook:

Read Aarika's story below

NASHUA, NH — It was a chance experience at volunteerism that led a Nashua middle-schooler to create an organization to help other children in the Gate City – while inspiring others to give of themselves. Aarika Roy, who will start the eighth grade later this month, has founded The Kind Yogis, an organization that will sponsor charitable drives at a few key times during the year when children might need a bit of a helping hand. Aarika was inspired to create the organization after spending part of Thanksgiving at the Nashua Soup Kitchen, where her father volunteers, preparing food for the holiday feast.

Aarika cut vegetables for salad and worked for about two hours. She was going to spend the rest of Thanksgiving with her family but then, decided to skip it, and serve the food at the pantry to its patrons. What she saw surprised her, with a heavy dose of reality, and so many people coming and going and eating all the foods she helped prepare.

"It made me realize how privileged we are to even be able to afford to have a nice dinner and have a loving family," she said. "We had something to give thanks to. And I was so happy to hear that they really liked the meal. It made me feel so fulfilled seeing the looks on their faces."

After that experience, Aarika decided she had to get more involved helping others which led her to create The Kind Yogis.

Her first project after creating the organization was to find a way to help the Christmas holiday be special for some of the children in need around the city.

It would be impossible to obtain technology like iPads for all the children. But one thing Aarika always turns to was books. So, she sponsored a book drive for students for the holiday season.

Aarika created flyers and reached out to school contacts, who often recycled old books, to see if there were books that could be donated to give to kids.

After about two weeks, she had collected more than 900 books.

While the books weren't much – some were worn and used – there were something, and something is always better than nothing. Aarika took the books the Anne Marie House and other places, and was happy to see the kids take to them.

"It made me feel even happier that they had something to read," Aarika said. "That was really fulfilling."

After the success of the book drive, Aarika began to think about what to do next. Collecting school supplies seemed like a good idea. So far, the drive is going really well, with people placing orders online. No donation, she said, was too small to help those in need.

"We should all come together and all help each other," Aarika said.

Debarati Roy, Aarika's mom, is helping out with social networking in an effort to make the drive as successful as it possibly can be.

"We talk about it all the time, as a family, that gratitude is really the only thing that will bring you true happiness," Debarati Roy said.

For the future, Aarika hopes to branch out internationally, especially when her family takes its next trip to India. During a previous trip, she was struck by the fact that there were children younger than she was selling things like toffees, pencils, and matchsticks, in the street, instead of being in a classroom and learning.

"I see them and I think, 'Wow, that's so sad that they have to have jobs…' little kids, 5-years-old," she said. "One little kid almost got hit by a car. It's sad that they can't lead the life they truly deserve. The next goal is to definitely donate more supplies and clothes for these kids."

To donate materials or help out with the Nashua back-to-school supply drive, email The Kind Yogis at thekindyogis@gmail.com.

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