Indian Grocery Store Fund

Well good news and moderate news. The moderate news is that we didn’t raise the full $7500 like we had planned on doing for the Indian Taxi Fund. The good news is that through this small little blog and subsequent community, we were able to raise $3000!!

You have no idea what a ridiculous number that is and how amazing it is that we raised it about a month. I can’t thank all of you enough who contributed and loaned to Amit’s project.

So due to the fact that we didn’t hit the $7500 number, the Lending Cluster (the group that raised and loaned the money) made the decision to still loan the money to Amit. After some business counseling with him, we came to the mutual conclusion that it would be wise for him to open a retail store front within his community with our loan of $3000. This loan will help him pay for the rent, supplies, and products needed to equip and stock his store.

Amit will be paying us back on a quarterly basis, at which point we will begin paying back those who made loans.

On June 15th Amit will be purchasing the products for the store and he will have his grand opening on July 1st. At which point, he will begin sending pictures and stories. So I’ll be sure to upload those as they come along.

It seriously is a ridiculous thought that a group of people (most of who have never met each other) - with no infrastructure - could make a loan to a 27 year old friend in India. Giving him and his pregnant wife an opportunity that most people his age would not be able to have.

I’ll be sending out an email to the Lending Cluster with all of the details of the payback schedule as well as a breakdown of the expenses and Amit’s long range business plan later on this afternoon. But if anyone else would like a copy of that document for accountability’s sake, please leave a comment and I’ll get you that information.

There was obviously some traction to this little experiment. So at this point, if any of you have any further ideas on how to take this to the next level by adding more Clusters and/or organization and structure, you know where to find me.