Dear Friends of Goonj,

The calendar is ticking towards 18th February-Goonj's Foundation Day. A day we've dedicated as Cloth Day—to do something more profound than an anniversary.. We're inviting you to join us in turning a simple piece of cloth into a powerful catalyst for change—not just for a day, but for years to come.

Through the years we have learnt two very important lessons. Firstly, there is more material poverty than people seem to know about. Secondly, clothes and other underutilized materials hold more potential to create solutions. Cloth is the best metaphor of this potential and possibility. For millions it is a symbol of their dignity, a source of livelihood, and a tool/resource/currency for development.

Click here to learn more on how you can contribute and get involved.

Your Saree can be so much more.. So can You!!

Sarees, timeless garments of our tradition, hold the power to drive impactful change. Did you know your saree can become a currency of development? Goonj breathes new life into sarees: wearable ones become part of material kits, empowering rural communities to address local issues while torn and unwearable ones of cotton and semi-cotton materials are transformed into life-changing essentials like cloth pads. Under our ‘Not Just a Piece of Cloth’ Initiative, the My Pad ATM Bank in Bihar enables women to access affordable menstrual hygiene solutions while funding community-driven projects like building platforms around hand pumps.

“Cloth is one of the first visible signs of economic poverty. We all judge each other. Unfortunately not just poverty, we end up judging people from being upper caste-lower caste, skilled-unskilled, literate-illiterate, cultured-uncultured and so on, just on the basis of clothes.”

- Anshu Gupta, Founder Goonj and Gram Swabhimaan.

From Drought to Hope: A Village’s Inspiring Transformation

"This pond once held our prayers, our crops, and our animals' thirst," Sushil Mandal shared, his voice heavy with loss. "Now, it's just mosquitoes and cracked earth." For two years, the village watched their lifeline disappear—until they decided to act. With bare hands and unwavering spirit, they dug, cleaned, and reshaped what once gave them life. And in the layers of mud, they unearthed more than just water—they found their strength, their wisdom, their dignity. This isn’t just about a pond. It’s about people reclaiming their agency, their solutions, their future—one handful of mud at a time. That’s the Goonj way.

From Piles of Cloth to Piles of Hope: The Sujni Story

"We stitched hope into fabric—together," shared Bodhi Ram. "Men and women sat side by side, something unheard of in our village, turning discarded cloth into Sujini quilts. With every stitch, we earned, saved, and sent our children to school."

What was once disaster waste became warmth, dignity, and livelihood. In Bihar’s toughest times, Sujini wasn’t just about fabric—it was about resilience, about upcycling lives with every thread pulled together. That’s the Goonj way.