Friends of Kasam
Friends of Kasam

About Us

Friends of Kasam is a small non-profit dedicated to support the education of underprivileged children in Kasam, Tamil Nadu, India. We are a registered, tax-exempt public charity as defined under section 501(c)(3) of the US Internal Revenue Code.

We follow the 100% model - meaning that all funds raised publicly from this website are used solely for the education of children. All operational costs are borne by private donors and funds for them are raised separately.

In our first year of operation, we raised funds to support the tuition and other educational expenses of 30 students at King's Matricluation School (KMS). KMS educates over 850 K-12 children from surrounding villages in English and Tamil. For a rural education center, KMS has excellent infrastructure and resources with 24 teachers, three science labs, a library, a sports ground and a computer center with 26 PCs and high speed internet!

Last year, we raised funds to support 44 students. We also sponsored the first year of college for Mohan Raj, a KMS graduate, through the continued support of his sponsor Doreen Denlinger.

This year, we are raising our goals! We are aiming to sponsor 50 students, support Mohan Raj's second year of college, and also support a Hindi teacher at KMS.

Our Team

Friends of Kasam (FoK) is managed by five friends who volunteer time outside their day jobs to support the kids at Kasam in whatever capacity possible.

Naman Chaurasia

Naman was a volunteer at King’s Matriculation School (KMS) in Kasam from 2008 to 2011 teaching English, Science and Computers to students of 6th, 7th and 8th grades. Together with Sowmya and Likhith, he established FoK in 2014 and currently manages legal, fundraising and operations. From his volunteer days, he dearly misses the banana nut bread from KMS canteen and teaching new computer games to kids!

Likhith Mandali

Likhith was also a volunteer at KMS from 2009 to 2011 teaching Computers and Sports to students of 6th, 7th and 8th grades. He was a founding member of FoK and currently manages finances and accounting. He fondly remembers coaching basketball and football to KMS kids and wants to visit Kasam during their annual sports meet!

Sowmya Saragadam

Sowmya was a founding member of FoK, prior to which she used to sponsor kids at KMS in her personal capacity. She currently supports communications along with Megan for new and existing donors, and fundraising. She has not visited KMS in-person yet but it is very high on her things to do before 2020!

Megan Smith

Megan has been a Friend of Kasam since 2015. She visited a couple of schools while visiting India that year and fell in love with the children, and joined Friends of Kasam. She spent two weeks in Kasam in 2016 learning more about the background and family situations of the kids being supported by FoK. She currently manages all communications along with Sowmya. She misses the lovely time she had with all the kids at Kasam is determined to go back (at least once) in 2019!

Rahul Ladhania

Rahul has been a Friend of Kasam since 2015 and comes with previous non-profit volunteer and operational experience. He spent a week at Kasam in 2017 and currently manages the website and supports operations. He also works closely with Mohan Raj - the first KMS graduate being supported through college - mentoring and monitoring him.