Working to make better communities

Born out of a desire to “give back”, Footprints of Today Foundation aims to strengthen communities and empower people to create a better society.

The organisation was founded by Kiara Trotman and Hayma Singh in January 2016.

“Last year, we decided that we wish to positively give back to our now fractured and enduring society. However, it wasn’t until early January 2016, when we reached out to passionate young people like ourselves, namely Charisma Salisbury, Abigail Mohabir, Stacey Gordon, Saajid Husani, Travis Trotman, Juke Ross, Sonia Nauth, Lawrence Alleyne, Tracy Shamsudeen, Khawn Rodney, Ravin Singh, and Vickita Nandan, to join us, that we decided to form what now intends to be an impactful non-profit organization,” Hayma said in an interview with Sunday Times Magazine.

According to Hayma, Footprints of Today Foundation is a holistic, non-profit, volunteer organization that was established to stimulate life-long learning, advance knowledge and strengthening communities by inspiring and empowering people affected by social traumas.

Relatively new, the Foundation’s team intends to create content that educates, informs and inspires, while reinforcing youth development. Consequently, its motto is: “Leave only footprints”, which means “making an impact today for a better tomorrow”.

The Foundation’s objectives are to provide services to the less fortunate. Such services shall include food, clothing and other smaller immediate services; to encourage the participation of all youths in the development of cultural integration; to implement programs that will enhance educational skills and develop ethical values; to recognize the value of youths of all sex, races and economic backgrounds and to provide opportunities for youths to take up positions of leadership in society; to participate in local and international humanitarian activities, facilitated by a network of other organizations with the same interest and identification of needs and distribution of resources; and to serve as a national and international voice whenever necessary to achieve conflict resolution through dialogue and reconciliation and compassion, rather than by violence.

“Considering the fact that we are a relatively new organization, our only on-going initiative is the ‘Put Your Clothes To Use Initiative’, a drive to provide clothing to the needy. Our plea to the public is to kindly donate their gently-used clothing to the foundation,” Hayma expressed.

A few of the Foundation’s projects are the Rainbow Pack Initiative, which is dedicated to providing basic school supplies to primary school students regardless of their economic circumstances; the WARMTH Initiative, which is dedicated to donating blankets to the homeless; Zero Hunger Initiative, which is dedicated to feeding 100 plus homeless persons every month, starting from March; the Trees for Cities Initiative, which is dedicated to cleaning parts of the three counties and the planting of trees and other flowering plants; Home Sweet Home Initiative, which is dedicated to the repainting or replacement of deteriorated woods of houses belonging to the underprivileged, or other public institutions; Moral Ed Initiative, which is dedicated to creating a curriculum of shared culture and respectful communication with youths as the target audience; and Sew A Future Initiative, which is dedicated to donating basic sewing tools to women of the rural areas. Other projects include the Read to a Child initiative, Remove the Graffiti Initiative, toy drives, and many others.

“Our inspiration stemmed from something as simple as wanting to help others. As friends, we would also constantly talk about how we need not wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. More so, growing up as fortunate children in our own ways, we have been in diverse settings with children who couldn’t afford as much as we did, and then there were those who could’ve afforded much more. Our empathetic natures were sculpted as another motivating factor for this Foundation,” Hayma noted.

At the moment, the Foundation is funded by its members who pool their resources to ensure the successful execution of initiatives.

“For us at Footprints of Today Foundation, the sense of appreciation that comes from giving is the most impactful of all, because with it comes not only joy for ourselves, but for those who we help. It has also helped us become socially involved and, from that, we have gained new insights into the lives of others. This has helped us as individuals to value traits such as humility and compassion,” Hayma declared. team at Footprints of Today Foundation plans on continuing their efforts of giving back to society and strives “to make positive inputs in the lives of many”.

For more information on the Foundation, visit Footprints of Today Foundation on Facebook.