BAPS Charities
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| Founded | 1950 |
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| Location | |
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Volunteers
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55,000 |
| Slogan | The Spirit of Service |
| Website | www |
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Formerly called
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BAPS Care International |
BAPS Charities (formerly BAPS Care International) is an international non-religious, charitable organization that originated from the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) with a focus on serving society. Their history of service activities can be traced back to Swaminarayan, who opened alms houses, built shelters, worked against addiction, and abolished the practice of sati and female infanticide with the goals of removing suffering and effecting positive social change. This focus on service to society is stated in the organization's vision, that "every individual deserves the right to a peaceful, dignified, and healthy way of life. And by improving the quality of life of the individual, we are bettering families, communities, our world, and our future. BAPS Charities carries out this vision through a range of programs addressing health, education, the environment, and natural disaster recovery. The organization's worldwide activities are funded through donations and are led by a community of over 55,000 volunteers who are mostly members of BAPS. The volunteers work with local communities and other charities and the organization's activities are mainly based out of their mandirs.
The Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) was founded by Shastri Yagnapurushdas in 1907. As an extension of their spiritual beliefs and practice, the organization's volunteers participated in charitable activities focused on fighting addiction and helping the poor during this period. BAPS registered a charity wing in 1950 with a goal of engaging in larger social and charitable works from a secular perspective. The organization increased the scale of its charitable works in India to a national level and assisted in major disaster relief activities, anti-addiction campaigns, and education drives. The organization then expanded its breadth of activities outside of the Indian subcontinent to Europe, Australia, Africa, and North America. In 2000, BAPS Care International was officially registered as an independent, nonprofit, and nonreligious social services arm of BAPS. In this time, the organization expanded its activities internationally and began worldwide walkathon campaigns to benefit local communities, health fairs, environmental activities, and youth development campaigns. In 2007, "BAPS Care International" changed its name to "BAPS Charities". Since 2007, the organization has continued to grow and has partnered with other organizations such as UNICEF and the International Red Cross to serve the global community.
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