Hello and welcome to the post “Festivus” issue of our newsletter. Though the Holliday season provides the much needed R&R marking the end of our major fundraising efforts (the Marathon and Notes of Hope), its also the time we start planning for the year ahead. Coordinating events involving nationwide chapters, international artists and a myriad of volunteers, tasks and responsibilities with all the deadlines and time constraints taken into account is no mean task. Thanks to the diligent efforts and tireless hours of volunteering by our team members, as of December 6th 2007, Asha DC has raised a total of $33,000 from the Marathon and Notes of Hope, a 100% of which will go into funding our 13 projects including 3 first time commitments.
One such first time commitment is the Vidya Sagar project, - a school for the mentally and physically challenged people in Chennai –India. A chance encounter I had with one of the teachers at the institute led to a growing interest in their mission and we were able to approve some much needed funding for computers and special technology for the children with motor in-coordination and other disabilities. We highlighted this project during Notes of Hope 2007, our annual classical music concert and fundraiser which helped us raise an additional $13,000 in funds from post-show audience donations. We are pleased to review the details of this school and the project for you under our “Featured Project” link, and we hope interested readers will actively contribute to this cause.
Talking of Notes of Hope, this year’s event went off with the usual élan even though we had double the work as we hosted two artists instead of one. Kudos to our organizers and those volunteers who helped execute this event. Madhav Acharya presents a synopsis of the evening, the event planning and preparation that went into it under the “Highlights” section.
Needless to say the coordinators of this event Sudipa Mustafi and Namratha Rajagopalan cannot be thanked enough for their efforts. Namratha talks about her experience in hosting this event in a tête-à-tête with Sudipa under the “Volunteer Profile” section of this issue
Next, we take the opportunity to present to you some information about The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). What exactly is this act and why do we care? Arvind Venkataraman explains all under “Discussion Point”
No issue is complete without paying due respect to our dedicated runners and Team Asha. This year saw their participation in the Baltimore Half, Marine Corps and Richmond Marathons. Coordinators of the event-Hemali Majithia and Hareesh Subramanya provide snippets and synopsis of the runs, and Mona Sehgal provides some insight into her experience as a runner in the Richmond Marathon under “Updates, Events and Happenings”. A quick update on our pre-race “Carbo Loading Luncheon” is also provided with the hope that fence-sitters and possible future enrollees among our readers could be tempted to join the team and help us raise even more funds next year!
Finally, we wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year and hope you will ring it in by rolling over a page of the 2008 Asha Calendars, click on the “Upcoming Events and Announcements” link to catch a glimpse of it and learn how you can get a copy.
