Sep 2012, Update - Ayesha is planning to head out to Sudan soon. If you bought our July pass, your donations made this possible! Thank you!
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Our bG-Gives Summer Checkin winner is Bina Mangattukattil, a regular at our bG Cardio classes. As the winner, she was able to decide where part of our Summer Pass proceeds were donated. Below is the description of the cause in Bina’s own words..
Thanks to each and everyone of you who bought our Summer Pass! We are so incredibly proud of being able to help Ayesha reunite with her family!
Bina Mangattukattil
“The woman that you will be supporting through your July registration at Bollywood Groove has a remarkable story.“Ayesha” (her name was changed to protect her privacy) is a woman from the Darfur region of Sudan. She survived the genocide that occurred in Sudan in 2003 (google “Darfur genocide timeline” for further information). She witnessed her home and village get burned down. Many of her family members were killed in front of her by government sponsored militia called “Janjaweed” (Arabic phrase meaning “evil men on horseback”).
Ayesha came to the United States a couple years after the genocide began in Sudan and suffered further as a survivor of human trafficking. With the assistance of several social service agencies in Chicago…and most importantly – her hard work, Ayesha is now approved for political asylum, working and living independently in her own
apartment.
She still has one major struggle to overcome. Her children are still in Sudan and she is working with her attorneys and staff at Apna Ghar (where I used to work) to apply for her children to come to the US under refugee status.
A local church has started a fund for “Ayesha” to assist her and her children (costs of travel tickets, visas, resettlement process to the US). One hundred percent of
donations sent to this fund will assist Ayesha and her children.
Thank you for your support of this amazing woman! “
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For the month of June, check-in to Bollywood Groove on Yelp every time you come to a class. The person with the most number of check-ins, wins the bG-Gives contest!!
The contest winner gets to pick his/her favorite non-profit organization and Bollywood Groove will donate 10% of all July pass revenue to that charity organization.
Buy Your Ticket to an Active Summer AND make an impact on the community Now!
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How To Check-In to bG on Yelp
Step 1: Install Yelp app on your mobile device
Step 2: Find Bollywood Groove on the app and click on it
Step 3: Scroll down to check-in offer and click on it
That’s It! Follow the next 2 mouse clicks to finish checking-in.
The yelp app will keep a count of your checkins. Show it to us at the end of June to see if you are the winner!
About bG-Gives
bG-Gives is a new community initiative by Bollywood Groove. As part of this initiative, bG strives to make its impact in helping out the local as well as international community.
In the past, bG has made contributions to Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center, Mission Green Light, Animal Care League, Chicago Montessori, Northlight Theater and more.