A really great way to help us out is to donate goods to our organization (goods in kind). This can be done by collecting together clothes (new or second hand), books, toys, pencils… etc. and then bundle them up in a parcel and send them out to us. We have put together a little list below of some useful and no-so-useful items. Sometimes this can be a little expensive for people so perhaps you could try getting together with a group of friends or colleagues.Over the years we have received plenty of different things in the post, from the ordinary (shoes, watches, clothes) to the extraordinary (a box of honey, coffee plungers, hot water bottles). There is very little that we can’t use.

Our Postal Address For Packages

Attn: Clifton Shipway
Strong Farm
PO Banbasa
Dist. Champawat
Uttarakhand, INDIA 262310

Phone: +91 8859709702

What Is Useful To Us

  • PPE equipment (masks and hand sanitizer)
  • Library Books (reference books, novels, children’s story books)
  • Boys shorts (age 8 to adults)
  • Boys/Girls Jeans (age 8 to adults)
  • Shoes (boys/girls US size 5-10)
  • T-shirts (all ages)
  • Jackets or rain-coats (all ages)
  • Craft supplies (scissors, colored pencils, stationary, stickers… etc.)
  • Socks
  • Board games (but not Uno as we have many sets)
  • Sports equipment (roller skates, balls, badminton rackets… etc.)
  • Toys (Lego, dolls, cars… etc.)
  • Bags (school backpack’s)
  • Stationary kits
  • Blue and black pens
  • Hats
  • Belts (especially boys age 6-18)
  • Toiletries (shampoo, soap, hair oil… etc.)

What Is Not So Useful To Us

These things are not as useful to us, to anyone who is considering sending them to us we would perhaps suggest you see if there is someone else who might benefit more from them:

  • Baby clothes
  • Soft toys
  • Beanies
  • Scarves
  • Knitted wear (sweaters, gloves… etc.)
  • Computer software
  • Food items

Preparing Your Postage

The Indian Postal System is not the most reliable and sometimes package “accidentally get opened” and items sometimes “fall out and go missing” because of this we recommend that people wrap up their parcels with cello-tape or ductape so that they can not easily open.

One of the best packaging methods for soft items like clothing/shoes/toys is to use a standard woven polypropylene bag (the type that farmers use for grain/farming products). These sacks are light, tough and also reasonably water proof so they will protect your donation well.

What About Shipping & Couriers?

We have experienced a lot of heartache over the years with parcels and postage being lost in transit; for this reason we recommend only using Government Postal Services (such as India Post, US Mail, Australia Post… etc) -though there are still no guarantees. While private couriers such as UPS do sometimes get here it is often with a lot of additional phone calls and organization. In India the shipping company DTDC delivers to our door but only if the postage code for the nearby town of Tanakpur is used (262309).

Sending Through Amazon.in

If you are a supporter or sponsor and would like to send a special gift to one of our kids you can use Amazon.in to do this. We have been using the Indian version of Amazon for quite a few years and have found them to be great. Please note the following things if you do use Amazon:

  • For our sponsors, please do not give any single large gift for a child (without consultation with us) as we try to maintain an equality among our kids as much as possible -it could be heartbreaking for one child to see another getting laptops and bicycles while they get a much more modest gift. We ask that you set a limit to USD $100 for any single gift and we are happy to help out with ideas in this regard.
  • If what you are sending is for someone specific please put their name in under the Full Name (First and Last Name) field of the delivery address otherwise “GSAM Office” will be sufficient.
  • You must use our number as the contact number for the purchase (as many packages use OTP passwords that are sent by SMS for delivery). The correct number to use is in the image below. Failure to do this will result in the package being returned to Amazon!
  • It would be great if you can send us an email and let us know that a package is on the way (send messages to office(a)indianorphanage.com -just replace the “(a)” with an “@” symbol)
  • If you select the option while ordering to make it a “gift” then Amazon will gift wrap the item for you.
  • You can use the following address for delivery: