Man raises £20,000 to provide aid to people affected by Bangladesh floods
22-year-old Milad Sarwar recently launched a fundraiser campaign and managed to collect more than £20,000 towards the ongoing flood relief effort in Bangladesh in just two days.
The young man created a page on GoFundMe to collect the funds as part of his effort to do more charity work.
Sarwar said, “About two years ago I wanted to do some charity work by raising funds for Bangladeshi causes and opened an Instagram account named after my grandmother, Nessa.
At the time I started funding small projects such as cataract surgery for the poor. As my following began to grow I realised I could really make a difference and use my platform for good causes.
In Ramadan 2020 I managed to raise quite a lot of money which was used to help a family in Bangladesh who didn’t have a home. I used Instagram to show people the work being done with their donations.”
A marketing graduate with a first class honours degree, Sarwar has thousands of followers on Instagram and appealed everyone to support the campaign and donate money to help those most affected by the devastating floods in Bangladesh.
He added, “When the recent flooding began my uncle Mahbubur Rahman suggested that we do something for the victims. He suggested buying and donating food-packs. My uncle plays a huge part in my charity projects. We as a team were the first to distribute aid in Sylhet, Bangladesh.
As I began to raise awareness and showed people what was happening in Sylhet, Bangladesh, my Instagram post went viral. I uploaded videos about the catastrophic effects of the flood and how severe the situation was. Had it not been for social media showing what was going on a lot of people wouldn’t have cared.
As the funds grew, I was worried if the team would be able to handle the logistics of buying and distributing aid but thankfully, I have a great team on the ground in flood-hit Bangladesh.
Bengalis are very resilient and determined so I had a good team of volunteers who offered to help. They are doing a great job in giving out food aid twice a week. We also have support from Bangladeshi authorities too.
My initial target was £500 as it was meant to be a small project, I didn’t expect it to go viral. This is my first major charity appeal, and I am happy about the response from British Bangladeshis.”
Explaining further on what the team does to help the vulnerable victims of the disaster, Sarwar adds, “I send money to Bangladesh where the team buy food aid such as rice, dahl, oil, spices and anything needed to cook a hot meal and distribute it to the helpless and needy. The flooding started three weeks ago but the water hasn’t receded yet.
The team have trucks and boats which are used to reach difficult and hard to reach areas. The remainder of the funds will be used to build tin houses for the homeless and needy. There are families who have nothing whatsoever and are living on the roadside.” Sarwar plans to register as a charity in the future and aims to help and provide aid to those in need.