Who we are
A small foundation in Hyderabad, working where nobody has the time to go.
Kalam Foundation works with government schools, old age homes and children's homes in and around Hyderabad. We are volunteers — not an institution, and not a head office.
We began with a simple habit: instead of collecting money for a cause, we started going. To a government school the week before the tenth-class exams, with note pads and pens. To an old age home on a Sunday, with fruit and an hour to sit. To a children's home with the uniforms the warden could not afford that month.
That is still what the foundation does. We are based in Hyderabad, we work within a morning's drive of the city, and we do the same things every month so that people begin to expect us. Six programmes, one small group of volunteers, and a rule that whatever we hand over is recorded and photographed.
We are inspired by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam — the scientist who spent his presidency talking to students, and who insisted that a developed India would be built in classrooms and not in announcements. Kalam Foundation carries his name and tries to keep that appointment.
Where the money goes
We are not collecting donations online at the moment. When we do, it will be against a specific list — a school's exam kits, a home's monthly provisions, a camp's medicines — and the bills will be handed over. Until then write to kalamfoundationts@gmail.com.
What we hold ourselves to
Three rules, and the third is the one that keeps the first two honest.
Local first
Furniture from a carpenter in the same town, medicines from the chemist down the road, volunteers from the next street. Money spent locally stays local, and the repair happens faster.
Look, then promise
Two volunteers visit before anything is promised. After delivery, photographs and a list of what was bought. After a year, a note on what broke.
Somebody has to keep it working
A shelf needs a teacher who lends the books. A computer needs someone who will switch it on in July. No caretaker, no programme.
The inspiration
A scientist who kept talking to students.
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (15 October 1931 – 27 July 2015) grew up in Rameswaram, studied aeronautical engineering, and spent his working life at DRDO and ISRO, including the project directorship of India's first satellite launch vehicle. He led the country's missile programme, was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1997, and served as the eleventh President of India from 2002 to 2007.
What he did after the presidency is why this foundation exists. He taught. He asked every institution he met one question — what are you doing for the student who has nothing? — and he insisted that the answer would be found in classrooms, not in announcements.
His idea of a knowledge society is the line on our badge, and the test we apply to our own work: does this leave more behind than it consumed?
Where we work
Hyderabad, and the districts a Sunday can reach.
The work, in short
| Programme | What it means |
|---|---|
| Old age homes | The homes we visit every month, and the elders in single rooms around the city. |
| Government & rural schools | Exam kits, furniture, books, computers and sports kits — after asking the head teacher. |
| Children's homes | Fees, uniforms, books, a festival day and an outing for the orphanages we work with. |
| Sports | Inter-school kabaddi, volleyball and kho-kho tournaments with the schools themselves. |
| Food and relief | Ration kits, provisions for homes, and emergency distribution when a bad week arrives. |
| Festivals and camps | Kalam Jayanthi, Sankranti, Dasara — and free health camps with local doctors. |
Places we work in and around
Hyderabad · Rangareddy · Medchal–Malkajgiri · Sangareddy · Nalgonda · Vikarabad.
Reach us
- kalamfoundationts@gmail.com
- @kalam_foundationts
- Phone
- +91 81799 44490
- Address
- Plot No. 6, Sri Satya Sai Nagar, Hyderabad, Telangana 500097
Work with us
An hour on a Sunday is genuinely enough to start.
Tell us your part of the city and what you can give — time, a car, a skill, or the name of a school or a home that needs a visit.