Anish Patel is not your typical teenager.

Patel, about to start his senior year at Ridge High School in Basking Ridge, is the founder and director of Uplift Humanity India. The 17-year-old developed the non-profit organization last year with the intention of creating a group "for teenagers and by teenagers."

The program started at Ridge High School, and it is quickly catching on at other area schools including Parsippany High School and Parsippany Hills High School. Patel is a former Parsippany resident. 

This effort is serious business. Its focus is young people in India whose actions put them in juvenile correctional facilities. Uplift Humanity, according to its website, offers assistance to help incarcerated youth transition back into their home communities.

Uplift Humanity India’s maiden voyage to Gujarat, India, took place earlier in July. A crew of 15 volunteers spent three weeks of their summer break helping Indian teens in juvenile facilities learn simple life skills. In addition, Patel and his team donated three air conditioners and five computers to the center they supported.

Along with himself, other Ridge students who made the trip to India included Mausum Shah, an upcoming senior, Nikhil Kapadiam a sophomore and Rohin Vyas, a senior, Patel said.

Patel said a trip last summer to Baroda, India, gave him an idea for a way to make a positive difference in the world.

“I could very clearly see the poverty throughout the country,” he recalled.  

Patel said he was disturbed to learn that teens as young as 13 are held in detention facilities for crimes such as stealing, drug offenses and gang-related activities. Many of these troubled youngsters, he was told, don’t get much attention or assistance, especially when it comes to the challenge of returning to society after serving a sentence.

That was a need that Patel decided he wanted to try to fill.

Upon returning to the U.S., Patel began his “summer project,” which ultimately emerged as Uplift Humanity India.

The organization, said its website, hopes to help Indian youth in juvenile facilities assimilate back into society after they're released.

"Many juveniles in the system return to society only to fall back into the same routines and habits that landed them in detention centers in the first place,” Patel said.

With the backing of sponsors, he worked in conjunction with a Ridge High School teacher, Binti Thakkar, to develop a curriculum focusing on basic life skills such as hygiene, choosing friends wisely, social networking, peer pressure, confidence building and positive self-esteem. 

In a previous article last February, Patel said the curriculum also would include such academic skills as computer literacy and reading and writing skills. 

When asked about his future goals for the organization, Patel said he hopes to see Uplift Humanity spread to other countries.  Going forward, Patel and his volunteers plan to continue with their “passion to free the human spirit and uplift humanity.”

Ridge High School students will continue to be involved in Uplift Humanity India, and the group hopes to run more fundraisers through the school as well, Patel said on Tuesday.

For further information on Uplift Humanity India, including ways to help, visit:www.uplifthumanityindia.org. 

Linda Sadlouskos contributed to this story.