Dear Deshantari members, All of us are painfully aware of the enormous destruction caused by Amphan in West Bengal, Bangladesh, and Orissa. Millions of people are in dire needs of all means of life sustenance, food, shelter, medicine and more. No one knows when the lives of these people can get back to some semblance of - even their - normalcy. Deshantari - an organization whose mission includes Charity - must respond to our people’s plight. Your executive committee has decided to ask you for generous contributions that we can send toward making a dent to the unimaginable conditions in which our people find themselves. We have selected two channels to help us make our contribution reach the people in need. In making the selection, we have looked for organizations that a) are registered in Canada and can thus provide tax receipts, b) have a good track record as far as we can tell, c) have a reasonably low administrative overhead cost. You are welcome to choose the one that suits your personal criteria the best and let us know when you send us your donation. 1. Toronto Calcutta Foundation http://www.toronto-calcutta.org/. View CRA page. This organization has 38 years of charity work – all with volunteer help with negligible overhead cost. They have set up relief work in cooperation with Shri Shri Sarada Ramakrishna Ashram (not connected to Ramakrishna mission) at Hotar (South 24 parganas). They are situated in the Sundarban area, and do not turn away any needy person (from India or Bangladesh, Hindu or Muslim) who comes to their door. Some of our members have had a long term relationship with this foundation. 2. Bharat Sevashram Sangha http://www.bsstoronto.org/. View CRA page. Bharat Sevashram Sangha's (BSS) head office in Kolkata has deployed relief teams to provide fresh cooked food, drinking water, tin sheets, tarpaulin, bamboo, medicine, clothing and has provided housing accommodations for over 50,000 people. Once we receive all your donations, we will round up the total to a good final amount. Tax receipts for eligible amounts will be issued by Deshantari. To help you decide how much to contribute, kindly reflect on your knowledge of how much even $100 may provide as relief today. Please send your heartfelt donation by July 15, 2020. Don’t forget to mention your preferred charity (if you have one) from the two above. You can send your donation by: 1. e-transfer to: [email protected] Please make the password “Donation2020” to make the deposit process easier. Please put " Donation to TCF/BSS (whichever is your preferred charity)", in the comments section. 2. By cheque: Please put “Donation to TCF/BSS (whichever is your preferred charity) ” on the cheque. Mail to: Treasurer, Deshantari 300 Haliburton Heights Ottawa, ON K2V 0N3 Thank you for your attention. Please don’t hesitate to send us your ideas, questions, comments on anything we do at [email protected] Thank you, Deshantari Executive Committee, 20-21 .