Have you ever heard of a story that really touched your heart? Have you seen organizations that do incredible things for wonderful causes? Have you ever asked yourself: “How can I help them so they can keep helping others?” We know how you feel and are ready to inspire you with an amazing story that happened just this weekend.

A Surprise Challenge at the Sikh Awards

This weekend, TalkLocal’s founders (Gurpreet Singh, Manpreet Singh and Amandeep Bakshi) had the honor of attending the 2014 Sikh Awards in London after being nominated for the Sikhs in Business – Entrepreneurs category. Although it was Sukhi Singh Ghuman who won the award (Congrats, Sukhi!), the founders took special note of the Sikh Helpline, which won for Sikhs in Charity.

In fact, Gurpreet Singh felt so inspired that he issued an unexpected challenge to the audience at the Sikh Awards: Raise £10,000 for the Sikh Helpline by the end of the evening and an anonymous donor will match your donations up to £10,000. And, you know what happened?  Not only did the attendees raise £20,000, they did it in the first five minutes!

That flood of support sparked a movement. Gurpreet immediately launched the Global £1 Million Challenge to get even more people involved in supporting the Sikh Helpline.

What is the Sikh Helpline?

The Sikh Helpline is a UK-based professional and confidential counseling service that helps members of the Sikh community overcome the bullying, discrimination and acts of violence which so many have experienced. Not only do they offer assistance to Sikhs in need, they also try to educate others who may have questions in regards to the Sikh faith, reducing the ignorance and fear that breeds intolerance. To understand why this is a worthy cause, just browse the newspapers for hate crimes against Sikhs, even in the U.S. To see how the Sikh Helpline is making a difference, just browse their website for the stories of lives they’ve touched.

What’s Happening Next?

With the goal set to £1,000,000, the Sikh Helpline is raising money so it can expand its counseling services to over 60 countries worldwide – a step towards fighting and eliminating hatred against Sikhs everywhere in the world. Gurpreet is already using TalkLocal’s algorithm as a basis for technological improvements that will make the Sikh Helpline more effective at helping those in need. However, they also need your help.

How Can I Help?

Whether or not you are of the Sikh faith, you’ve probably felt the sting of bullying or prejudice. More importantly, you know that no one should have to. So, join the movement: make a donation to the Sikh Helpline and tell them that you want counseling services for Sikhs right here in the U.S. Or, find an organization that fights against racial or religious discrimination in your community. Always remember, even the littlest contribution makes a huge difference.

(When donating to the Sikh Helpline, please be aware that donation amounts are listed in euros so please take conversion rates into account.)

This entry was originally posted on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2014 at 11:21 am and is filed under talklocal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.