OUR MISSION
“A nation’s greatest resource lies within human talent, yet a generation of children may never know their unique potential do to a lack of resources. As a child raised under such circumstances, I was fortunate to overcome these limitations through the grace of God and the generosity of others. This humbling experience has made me grateful for the opportunities that I was given and has defined my purpose in life. I am now committed to uplifting the lives of underprivileged children by providing them with a quality education and empowering them with the tools they need for a better future.”
Dr. Polineni Subbarao (Founder)
Fourteen years have passed since I said that in 2008-2009. In the beginning, before the Bright Life Foundation was formed and registered in MO and later approved by the IRS in the end of 2010, I gave from my personal finances during the first two years. We purchased land to fulfill the needs of the school campus, agricultural campus, and the initial building construction. From that point on, everything has been given through the foundation.
Butchamamba and I have given everything we own including our retirement funds to benefit the school. Since 2016, I have faced extreme financial hurdles in maintaining the school, especially during COVID lockdown when recurring donors paused their help. This forced me to borrow from friends and lending institutions to maintain the school expenses which should be cleared with the sale proceeds of our house.
Despite the financial battles, watching the growth and success of 108 graduating students getting into professional and degree colleges is beyond words and completely worth everything we have done. I would, without any reservation, whole-heartedly say that I would do this all over again if God were to give me the chance.
I am retiring from my medical practice and want to devote myself full time to shaping the school as an outstanding place for underprivileged children like myself. It will be a safe haven, providing the best education for these unfortunate children, an education comparable to the experiences of any other privileged child in society.
The future of the school and the mission to keep it open for an indefinite length of time depends on the financial stability and planning. Hence plans for self sustainability have been proposed in the three following phases.
FUTURE VISION OF THE SCHOOL
Long term future is linked with economic stability. We envision the following three phases:
PHASE 1:
Secure funds to run the school smoothly by providing $8000 per month for the next 4-5 years. I will donate the entirety of my social security income along with some contribution from Butchamamaba for a total of $4000, which is 50% of the amount needed monthly.
For the remaining 50%, I request like minded friends and family to offer support through sponsoring one or more children by donating a dollar a day to the ‘sponsor a child’ program. We are thankful to the current donors who are already contributing and to the few donors who are sponsoring 10-15 children every month with larger amounts.
PHASE 2:
The above setting (completion of Phase 1) for the next 4-5 years will give a chance to travel across the country to meet successful businesses, corporations and philanthropists to raise 1-1.5 million for an endowment fund over the next 5 years. This large endowment fund would be untouched since we will be running the school from the monthly donations in Phase I. That kind of large endowment fund will keep the school going for the next 5-6 decades. We currently have verbal commitments of up to $300,000 so far for this phase 2 funding.
PHASE 3:
Once the school becomes recognized within the community as an outstanding academic institution, we will open the opportunity for a limited number of students (20 or less into the first year of intermediate, i.e. junior and senior years) to join as paying students in addition to our already established class of underprivileged, non-paying students as a means to generate more revenue for the long term stability of the school.
These are not easy goals but they are not impossible to achieve.
Helping others can happen in many forms. It is my humble opinion and experience that the recipient of a donation may not always be able to put the funds to the best of what is intended and expected. However, when donations are made for education, they cannot vanish or be wasted, and no one can take it away.
When you educate a man, you are educating a person. But when you educate a girl you are educating a whole family. When you educate an unfortunate child, we not only uplift that child’s life, we also change the lives of his/her children’s lives and potentially of many more such as parents, siblings. This has been exemplified by my own life and many others that have graduated from the school.
I have contributed and tried everything in my ability to make this a reality for many more children today and in the future. I hope you will join me in this ambitious and worthwhile journey to provide for our future generations to the best of our ability.
A Dream Becomes Reality: The Sri Sarada Niketan Public School In 2009, Sri Sarada Niketan Public School opened its doors, with the aim to provide free education in a boarding school environment for impoverished children, including orphans and street children in India. Our goal is to “level the playing field” by giving these children a strong foundation that will enable them to pursue a higher education or obtain vocational training.
We are an independent school that nurtures not just students’ intellectual ability and curiosity but also their personal and social growth and civic conscience. Opportunities extend well beyond the classroom to athletic competitions, artistic pursuits, and school leadership experiences.
Along with a classroom education, we create a home environment, providing guidance and teaching life values. Our holistic approach to caring for these children incorporates nutritional, medical, and psychological services to ensure that their specific needs are met by qualified providers. Many of our children have experienced the overwhelming loss of a parent or family, and benefit from much needed psychological counseling. A school nurse is readily available to provide urgent care, immunizations, and preventative care services.
Instilling the concept of self-reliance versus co-dependence is critical to the success of our mission. We aim to develop well-rounded students through exposure to a balanced curriculum which includes math, science, and the liberal arts.
