page_title: BAPS Charities
section_title: Disaster relief
hierarchical_section_title: BAPS Charities / Activities / Disaster relief
caption_attribution_description: English: BAPS Charities Food Drive
context_page_description: BAPS Charities is an international, non-religious, charitable organization that originated from the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha with a focus on serving society. Their history of service activities can be traced back to Swaminarayan, who opened alms houses, built shelters, worked against addiction, and abolished the practice of sati and female infanticide with the goals of removing suffering and effecting positive social change. This focus on service to society is stated in the organization's vision, that "every individual deserves the right to a peaceful, dignified, and healthy way of life. And by improving the quality of life of the individual, we are bettering families, communities, our world, and our future." BAPS Charities carries out this vision through a range of programs addressing health, education, the environment, and natural disaster recovery. The organization's worldwide activities are funded through donations and are led by a community of over 55,000 volunteers who are mostly members of BAPS. The volunteers work with local communities and other charities and the organization's activities are mainly based out of their mandirs.
context_section_description: The group has responded to disasters in many parts of the world. It has constructed more than 50 schools in areas affected by natural disasters.
  In South Asia, the group has supported organizations carrying out relief activities of providing medical care, medical supplies, warm food, drinking water, clothes, and shelter after natural disasters like the 1979 Morbi Dam Failure, 1993 Latur earthquake, 1994 Surat Plague Epidemic, 1995 Malda Floods, 1996 Andhra Pradesh Cyclones, and the April 2015 Nepal Earthquake. After the 1999 Odisha cyclone, it assisted the Government of Odisha and other groups in reconstructing three villages with cyclone-resistant houses and other infrastructure in addition to helping other villages and providing food, medical assistance, counseling, and other supplies. Within hours after the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, it supported organizations whose volunteers began providing victims with daily hot meals, clean water, and clothing and assisted with debris removal and search and rescue missions; the organization also adopted more than 10 villages in which they rebuilt the entire community, including all infrastructure and thousands of earthquake-resistant homes. With the help of donations from volunteers in India and abroad, the organization supported the rebuilding of the area's communities by constructing schools, hospitals, and other buildings. Following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, the group supported organizations working in affected areas of India and Sri Lanka to provide 174,000 hot meals, 12,000 food packets, more than 60 tons of grains, and fresh water tanks to the homeless in 51 villages. These organizations also treated more than 1,700 individuals in 4 medical camps and administered medicine and protective equipment. As part of the rehabilitation efforts estimated to total over one million US dollars, it helped relief organizations construct 245 new houses for victims in Tamil Nadu.
  
  In North America, it helped in the relief efforts in the aftermath of the 1992 Los Angeles riots and the 1994 Los Angeles earthquake. Following the 2001 El Salvador earthquakes, it sent $3.3 million worth of medicines and supplies to assist in the relief efforts. After Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States, its volunteer teams supplied hot food, water, emergency supplies, and relocation aid for victims. The organization carried out similar relief activities in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike in 2008. Recently, the organization partnered with UNICEF to provide medicine, clean water, and temporary housing for children affected by the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Following the 2011 outbreak of tornadoes in the Southeastern US, they took action to provide hot meals, drinking water and shelter to the over 2,500 affected people at four relief centers and the organization responded similarly after the 2013 tornadoes in Oklahoma. After the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami, they provided supplies and transportation to aid in the relief efforts in affected areas.
caption: Food drive
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