Sanjana, Bangalore: #Pizza by Upcycle, a pizza enterprise by the Y4UW

Hi I'm Sanjana from Bangalore. As Y4UW, we felt the need to make a difference at the local level. On visiting a village, we were made aware of living conditions that needed improvement. We decided that we had to do something, contribute in some way. We undertook to adopt the village and some serious fundraising began. After a lot of brainstorming, we decided on pizza sales. We could do this because we had help and supervision, working in collaboration with an Italian restaurant. Soon we got better in pizza making and it was our way of raising funds to assist the projects we took up.

Last year, while we were working on our next project to help fund a school providing music education to children from abused backgrounds, in Bangalore, the war was raging in Gaza and Iraq. This was an emergency situation and we met to discuss what we could do for our Youth 4 a United World friends affected in these countries. It was a moment that really made us think. Despite our own problems in our locality, we felt t it was a moment that forced us to look at the “world” as well. We diverted our attention and fund raising to help the Y4UW families in Gaza and Iraq. It was after a successful pizza sale organised on a huge scale, for this cause, that we found the courage and the impetus to start #Pizza by Upcycle, a pizza enterprise by the Y4UW, Bangalore. The name Upcycle means (will talk to Aaron and complete this bit). It took several meetings to decide how we were going to organise ourselves and take it forward. Today, we are doing well, with a regular clientele, people who know that the funds raised from the pizza go towards a cause. #Pizza also became a meeting and bonding place where we could bring our friends and introduce to them the ideas for Unity and fraternity of Y4UW. Many of them keep coming back. And needless to say, now we all know how to make pizza. True story!