Prevent Child Marriage, Educate 270 Girls in India

Dear Friends, 

We want to share some exciting news with you. Coming up on June 15^th in Los Angeles, California, we have a fabulous event for the campaign we are running to grow our community #SheMustCount where we will be screening the short films by Without Exception Films, hosted by Marie Avgeropoulos.

Marie, star of TV show “The 100” will be live at the event sharing about her experience on her recent visit to Vrindavan and you will be able to ask her questions about her trip and her involvement with the FFLV.

A Night Of Food, Drinks & Giving- Hosted By Marie Avgeropoulos!

Date: Thursday, June 15, 2017

Time: 6:30 pm to 10:30 pm

Venue: ESTRELLA 8800 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069

You can buy tickets online at https://fflvindia.ticketleap.com/shemustcount/

Background:

In the first week of April, FFLV was honoured by a visit from Marie Avgeropoulos, a renowned actress and one of the stars of the popular sci-fi series “The 100”. In a weeklong visit, Marie spent her time trying to understand and document the problems girls face in the underprivileged sections of society. Marie’s visit was a very moving one, to say the least, and she shared her experience with us:

“My experience in Vrindavan, India, with the FFLV girls was life-changing. I went into this project unsure of what to expect. I was quickly greeted with a very warm welcome by the amazing young girls at the FFLV schools and began an incredible journey and lasting friendships. They inspired me. They live in such a chaotic city, in complete poverty, but even with so many obstacles, they are so positive and thankful. The school program is a pathway to transform each and every one of the students into confident, healthy and brilliant young women. The schools equip them with the tools they need to become educated and therefore independent, and in the process end the cycle of child marriage and have a career. They will be able to lead a life that doesn’t include old-fashioned traditions that are, unfortunately, the fate of so many without the opportunity to attend school. Sponsorship is so important to save a girl's life; for such a small price, it makes a huge impact. I will never forget my experience in Vrindavan, and I feel so honoured and privileged to have had this opportunity.

 “I will continue to follow and support the girls and FFLV. To find out more about what happened in Vrindavan while I was there, you can follow our campaign #SheMustCount on Twitter @fflvIndia, Instagram - fflvIndia and Marie Avgeropoulos; also on Facebook - Food For Life Vrindavan. And look out for a series of short films about my visit coming out in June.

Follow us on Social Media:

For those of you interested in following FFLV on social media, we also have some new things to follow on Twitter and Instagram. As we expand and grow the numbers of girls in school in Vrindavan at Sandipani Muni Schools, we must also grow and expand our support to find a sustainable flow of funds to ensure a strong future. Follow the journey online and be part of building this wonderful future for girls’ education in India.

The #SheMustCount series will be launched on Youtube and Facebook starting on the 12^th June, so don’t forget to like and share and start to get involved with what’s going on with FFLV here in the US. We look forward to interacting with you more and hope to meet you online and at this and future events.

You can follow, support and share the campaign online through Facebook - Food For Life Vrindavan, Instagram - FFLV India, Twitter @fflvIndia, and always tag us with #SheMustCount

Links:

• Visit our New Website
• Follow on YouTube

Rita was married at 15, lured into the idea of new beautiful clothes and gifts. Being from an underpriviledged family, she was never sent to school, and was as naive as girls usually are at that age. Little did she know what life had in store for her. Rita's husband passed away in the year 2010. A single mother of two, She struggled to bring up her two angelic daughters aged 3 and 5 that time. As the sole bread earner of the house Rita had to leave her children alone at home in a hut without a door and go out to do work. 

One day she came across Food for Life Vrindavan. Her daughters were immediately taken in the school and she was offered a cleaning job at the office.

Rita lived in a temporary hut previously, that used to have a metal rooftop and used to be as hot as an oven in summers, with FFLV’s help she was able to rent a room for herself and her daughters where she lives now. She was also given help to get a cooking gas. Along with a monthly salary for her work, she is also given monthly rent and rations from FFLV. Both of her girls are bright and very well behaved students at school. Rita does not want them to face the hardships that she had to in her life. She has great hopes for her daughters and really believes that education will change things for them.

Rita has resolved that she wont let this curse of early marriage become the fate of her daughters. We are with Rita, and we thank you all who are supporting thousands of such families through your contributions. It is making a lot of difference in their lives. Thank you!!

Links:

• Article on Website