Cindy Charles is not what you might call a typical DoorDasher. She started making deliveries at the height of the pandemic in an effort to support her non-profit, Kupanda Sisters. Charles says she felt as though she struck gold.

“My first dash, I made $20 in five minutes. Before you know it, I had over $5,000 and over 500 deliveries and I’m like this is amazing,” she says.

After a full day of work, Charles then hops into her car and delivers food all across Brooklyn. It's all for a wonderful cause. Her organizations provides women and children in her native Guyana with educational resources. 

“I really wanted to go back and remind them that they too can achieve, they too can rise and it’s all about the support,” Charles explains.

One of those girls is 12-year-old Shaniqua Heligor. Her school supplies and tuition are covered through Kupanda Sisters. As a young scholar, she’s already teaching others.

“Most of the children on the first day couldn’t read and the last day we were at the program, I see a change," Shaniqua says. "Most of them tried their best and I see a change.”

She has hopes to become a lawyer and open up a private school of her own in Guyana.

“Me helping others to read, it’s very encouraging. Sometimes I feel it’s difficult with the small children, but helping them really makes me feel like a better person.”

It’s a feeling shared by Charles, who says she has had one primary goal here entire life: “Really empowering people, giving back to the less fortunate. That was always a dream of mine.”

Charles says providing just one young girl with an education is reason enough to continue doing this work for years to come.

“If you educate a man, you educate an individual. But when you educate a woman, you educate a nation,” Charles says.