(January 18, 2024) ‘Anyone can be a smilemaker’, believe Pravneet and Hurshneet Chadha, two teen brothers from Phoenix, Arizona. They are the founders of Project Smile AZ and as the name suggests, their aim is simple – spread some joy, which they have done over 80,000 people so far. The idea came to them in 2020 during the pandemic, as the brothers, who were 12 and 15 years old then, watched their parents, both of whom were doctors, fight the disease on the frontlines. They wanted to do something positive too, which led to the start of Project Smile Az. In 2023, their efforts fetched them a Diana Award.
Pravneet and Hurshneet were born in New York City and later moved with their family to Phoenix, Arizona. A sense of service had been ingrained in the boys at a very young age. “When I was five, my mother took us to the community kitchen and we would help hand out meals, pack food and cook. It made me feel great,” said Pravneet, the younger of the two, who is currently in high school. “We were young and didn’t know much about what we were doing but we just knew we were doing something good.”
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Small acts of kindness during the pandemic
So, when the opportunity presented itself in 2020, the Global Indians took it without hesitation. With both parents so actively involved during the pandemic, the situation was often the subject of dinner table conversations. “We had heard on the news how isolated people were, and we were talking about it with our parents,” Pravneet told The Pollination Project. Things were shutting down and patients couldn’t even meet their own families. “We wanted to make them feel that someone was there for them, that someone cared for them.” That’s when Hurshneet suggested making some get-well cards for them. It was a simple idea, but as we know, a little kindness can make all the difference.
Over the next two weeks, Pravneet and Hurshneet Chadha worked everyday to make around 200 motivational cards for Covid patients. They designed and drew everyone, and composed the messages themselves. “I remember vividly the first batch of cards we gave was to the hospital, Banner Estrella.” They reached out to the CEO asking if it was okay to send cards to the patients and he agreed. “They till have some cards hanging there, which is pretty awesome to see.”
It was meant to be a one-off project but when thank you notes started pouring in, they realised they were actually making a difference. “We realised small acts of kindness can have a meaningful impact.” They kept at making cards, going on to establish their non-profit with three additional board members and over 1000 volunteers across the US, Canada, Europe and India. Now, the cards go to hospitals, homeless shelters, veterans and cancer centres. They also mobilized young volunteers across the world to join in and do small acts of kindness once in a way. In fact, the movement took off so much that people began donating art supplies to them from around the world.
Pravneet and Hurshneet Chadha now also do book donation drives, and distribute art supplies, sports equipment and dental hygiene kits to young people in need.
Working with foster children
When Pravneet was in elementary school, a classmate, who was a foster child, didn’t have art supplies to do a class project. Pravneet shared his things with the boy and returned the next day with a bag of art supplies. “I can never forget the smile on my friend’s face,” he recalls.
Volunteers who wanted to join but couldn’t afford art supplies also contacted them. They coordinated with various organisations in Arizona to share the art kits they received through donations. Now, donating art kits to foster children is a regular part of what they do, and each kit includes cardstock, crayons, colour pencils, stickers, markers, and of course, a message on the box. The children now pitch in to make cards that are donated to senior citizens’ homes in Arizona State.
Branching out
Project Smile AZ has expanded from handmade cards to a host of other things. As part of their literacy drive, they collect “gently-used books” to donate to kids in need. Anyone can join in by doing a drive in their neighbourhoods, schools or churches, or simply gather the books they have at home. They also conduct snack drives for at-risk teens that need snacks at school, and distribute dental hygiene kits and sports equipment to underprivileged youth.
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Challenges
Even a project as noble as spreading kindness is not easy to accomplish. “One of the biggest lessons we had to unlearn was that you are too young to do anything on your own,” the brothers said in an interview. “We were only 12 and 14 when we started this project.” At the start, people didn’t believe the boys were doing the work themselves, but they persisted. They built a webpage, opened social media accounts and reached out to clubs and organisations. They connected with youth entrepreneurs around the globe as well.
The idea is to keep it simple and make a change. “These acts don’t require much funds or skills, making them inclusive for anyone, anywhere,” they say. “We have even worked with children with disabilities who enjoy making cards from our smile art kits. The goal is to create smile makers doing acts of kindness to bring smiles for all.”
