Dakwala-Shah Family

It was a few years ago when Chirag and Neha Dakwala-Shah’s family found Honeycomb. Volunteering since youth, it was important to instill the value of giving back to their children.

The Ravenswood Food Pantry and Drumming with Seniors in Bronzeville are some of the family’s favorite projects. Chirag and Neha’s kids, Nikita (age 10) and Damian (age 7) love handing out food at the pantry. Neha says “I remember when it was 25 degrees outside and even though my son was freezing, he didn’t want to stop volunteering because he knew these other people needed to eat.” “The senior drumming circle was very heartwarming too…the idea of food, music and company is so simple yet so impactful.” 

“Honeycomb has been a good facilitator for us,” she continues. “Nikita now packs snacks at home in a ziploc bag, and then we keep it in the car to hand out when needed…it’s created more awareness in our home, especially in making sure food doesn’t go to waste.” 

With challenging schedules, the Dakwala-Shah family does their best to volunteer every couple of months with Honeycomb. Other favorites include sorting clothes at Cradles for Crayons. “It’s a great group activity for Damian,” says Neha, “he went through different bins of boys and girls clothing and sorted what to recycle and what to keep—he took pride in that.” 



“The time and energy my kids put into their community and the affect they have is invaluable,” says Neha. “Giving others access to food and clothing is so important…The Honeycomb Project is truly unique.” 

The Dakwala-Shah Family lives in Lincoln Park. Neha is the Director of Global Client Initiatives at Google and Chirag is the CEO of Financial Company. Nikita is a 4th grader and Damian is a 1st grader at Latin School of Chicago. Nikita plays softball and basketball and loves cooking and Bollywood dancing. Damian loves sports, especially basketball and football. The family enjoys traveling and taking in theater performances in the city.