Health
The foundation of well-being
A healthy body is the cornerstone of a healthy mind. We support organizations that bring care to people who would otherwise go without.
A self-funded family foundation
Living on less is not living small, living on excess is!
The foundation exists to open hearts - and to remind us that a meaningful life moves through learning, earning, and returning.
Two life themes
Never say Never
Keep faith alive
The name
M.I.R.A.N.I.
A reminder to return some of what you have been given - to people who need it more than you do.
- MMaking
- IImpactful
- RReturnof
- AAbundancefor
- NNeedsof the
- IImpoverished
Making Impactful Return of Abundance for Needs of the Impoverished
Three stages of a meaningful life
Dr. Haresh Mirani’s bumper sticker - and the arc of his own life - is a simple trilogy.
- 01
Learning
You arrive knowing almost nothing. Baby steps. Falling, getting up, falling again. Education, apprenticeship, the long work of becoming useful.
- 02
Earning
You survive. You provide. You take care of a family. You meet your responsibilities before you talk about generosity.
- 03
Returning
Then you open your heart. There are people not as blessed as you are. You do something - not great things, but small things with great love.
Health · Education · Social Justice
Since 2015, the foundation has partnered with organizations serving low-income and marginalized communities - a third locally in East Tennessee, a third in India, and a third wherever a dollar goes farthest.
Education
Unlocking potential
Education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty. We back opportunities for children in the U.S. and abroad to become agents of change.
Social Justice
Building a fairer world
We champion work that promotes equality, tolerance, and understanding - the backbone of strong, inclusive communities.
Founder · Mirani Foundation
Meet Dr. Haresh Mirani
A physician who turned a ruined career into a life of returning.
Never say Never
Kilimanjaro at 60, with an artificial ankle.
Keep faith alive
Learning, earning, returning - his measure of a meaningful life.
Haresh K. Mirani, M.D., was born near poverty about 8,000 miles from Knoxville. Partition displaced his family. His father sent him into medicine. He entered the United States with a torn bag of clothes and $40 from a Delta agent.
He became a doctor, built the most profitable practice in Tennessee, then a car accident at 43 ended the career. Seven surgeries. Chronic pain he still calls “the beast.” At 60, eight months after an artificial ankle, he stood on Kilimanjaro. That is when he stopped feeding the wolf of self-pity, looked outward, and formed the Mirani Foundation with his wife, Hana.
He does not ask anyone for money. He lives on less than he receives. What he wants from this site is simpler: that someone open their heart a hair more.
“Human being is not capable of doing great things. He can only do small things with great love.”
Mirani Foundation mini documentary
A short film about the foundation. More films live on the media page.
You do not have to start a foundation
The average American already gives about 2.5% of income - more philanthropic than almost anyone on earth. Half a percent more, on a $60,000 salary, is about 80 cents a day. Baby steps. Pay a library fine. Hand a cold bottle of water out a car window. Stock a church pantry. Mother Teresa said a human being is not capable of doing great things - only small things with great love.