Our History

We were officially founded and registered on March 10th, 2008, as an independent social service functioning as a nonprofit charity. Our charitable activities were motivated by Masumeh Dilaram, the mother of Mali Armand, the founder of the Give the Needy Foundation. In the 1960s, her mother was one of the social workers from a group in Dacha, Bangladesh, called "Ladies Welfare Society" (picture on the right, Masumeh Dilaram highlighted in green). They were about a dozen ladies who would put together several fundraisers to support the underprivileged. Masumeh Dilaram, throughout her life, continued to help people in need, which helped inspire her daughter to follow in her footsteps.

We started the Give the Needy Foundation by caring for single mothers who were raising their children alone and helping them make a lasting impact in their lives. This charity is based on the success of helping a single mother raise her six children by herself. It all started one day in November of 2005, when Mali Armand (the founder of Give the Needy Foundation) was trying to reconnect with her childhood caretaker after over a decade since she was a child. Her name was Amina.

Amina was a very strong-willed lady from Myanmar. While growing up, she got very attached to her, as she would walk her to school and was very protective of her. After school hours as a child, she would sometimes play with her daughter Munni, who was close to her age. When she relocated to America, she eventually lost touch with Amina's family.

Over the years, she tried to inquire about Amina and her family, but no one seemed to know about their whereabouts. Over a decade or more passed by until her aunt accidentally met them at their new employers.

When she visited overseas after nearly 15 years, she was really looking forward to reconnecting with Amina and Munni. She felt very happy yet sad seeing Amina, as she had aged and was close to 80 years of age. Her daughter, Munni, had gone through a lot of hardships in her life. Munni's husband had a stroke and left his family to live in his village. Munni felt abandoned, as she had no other support system. Her children ranged from twenty to eight months old, as she was unable to do any family planning, regardless of her complications in her earlier pregnancies. Their living conditions were at the bare minimum.

A lot of things transpired to get them settled over the years; during that period, Amina tragically passed away in 2006, as well as Munni’s husband in 2008. Munni and her kids now rent a small apartment in a safe neighborhood. All her kids go to school and get very good grades. Her oldest son is close to graduating from college and works. Her second son is also in college. Her second-oldest daughter, who never went to school, was sent to a seamstress school. She takes custom orders for clothing from people in her neighborhood, which makes her happy to contribute to her family.

We cannot imagine what would have happened to her family if they were not found out. She would have had to work alongside her children, who would not have been exposed to any form of education and would definitely have been exploited. We at Give the Needy have been supporting them over the years and feel there is no better reward than hearing about their progress and well-being. The turnaround in their lives has been made possible by a commitment to support them.

Over the years, we took on several other families to support in Kenya and Pakistan. Most of those families are self-sufficient and have a chance at a better life.