communityaffairsNews India TimesMay 24, 201310
www.newsindiatimes.com – that’s all you need to know
By a Staff Writer
– NEW YORKore than 350 guestsattended NanubhaiEducation Foundation’sfifth annual gala held
May 10 at Midtown Loft andTerrance here. More than$55,000 was raised at the event,according to a press releaseissued by the group.
The foundation providesscholarships to women in Indiato attend college and works toimprove the quality of educationin rural schools in India
Actor Manish Dayal,spokesman for the foundation,along with special guests includ-ing actresses MelanieKannokada, Neelu Sodhi, PoojaKumar, Ami Sheth, model Nina
Manuel, celebrity photographerand star of Bravo TV’s “DoubleExposure “ Indrani PalChaudhuri and fashion designer
Payal Singhal came out to sup-port the charity. Previous galasupporters have included actorsKal Penn and Sendhil
Ramamurthy.“This year we exceeded our
fundraising goals with the helpof our longtime supporters,”Dayal was quoted as saying inthe release. “Every year our mis-sion of reforming rural educationis being put to work in a realway.”
Former Executive DirectorNita Nehru announced her newrole as co-chair of the founda-tion’s board, along with KandarpShah; Claire Arthurs will takeover as the next executive direc-tor.
Guests enjoyed cocktails fromDiageo, Kettle One Vodka and
Guinness, appetizers fromMichelin Star Indian restaurantTulsi and desserts by SonamSondhi of Chocal8Kiss. DJGaurav kept the crowd enter-tained, while Singhal providedher new collection on man-nequins as the décor for thevenue.
The gala is the primary sourceto raise funds for the founda-tion’s Teacher Training andProfessional DevelopmentProgram, which focuses onenhancing the teaching skills,classroom management tech-niques and English languagecapabilities of local teachers.
Gala Raises Over $55,000 to Support Rural Education in India
At the Nanubhai Education Foundation’s fifth annual gala held May 10 at Midtown Loftand Terrace in New York, from left, actresses Ami Sheth and Melanie Kannokada;
Raj Shah, founder and chairman of Nanubhai Foundation; Nita Nehru, chair of the NEFBoard; actor Manish Dayal, spokesperson for the foundation; actresses Nilu Sodhi
and Pooja Kumar and model Nina Emanuel.
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By a Staff Writer
– NEW YORKRY America celebrated 10years of working toimprove the lives of chil-dren by hosting Pledge
2013, a benefit dinner at ThePierre here May 10. A similarevent was held May 4 in theSeattle area at the Westin inBellevue. More than $220,000was raised at the two eventsand will fund various projects,according to a press releasefrom the group.
More than 100 people fromthe New York and New Jerseyarea attended the New Yorkevent which was addressed byShefali Sunderlal, president ofCRY America. “As we remi-nisced about our childhoods atthe events, we also thought ofthe 422,878 children livingacross 2,395 villages and slumsin India, whose lives have beenirreversible transformedthrough our collective efforts,”she said, thanking donors, vol-unteers and project partners.
Sotheby’s Priyanka Mathewled the auction that featuredpaintings donated by famousIndian artists Ram Kumar,Seema Kohli, Kiyomi Talaulicar,Prakash Deshmukh, AnandPanchal; autographed guitarsby the Rolling Stones; auto-graphed record albums by TheBeatles and Pink Floyd; andother autographed memorabil-ia.
Prominent attendees includ-ed Professor Padma Desai ofColumbia University, RuchirSharma from Morgan Stanley,Natvar and Janet Bhavsar,Scarlett Pildes, Suneeta Dewan,Anu and Naveen Jain, Gurdeepand Seema Pal, Swati and RajAngolkar, Sangeeta and JigarThakkar, Murali and MithaliNarayanan.
In over 10 years, CRYAmerica has helped to immu-nize 156,848 children, providedregular health checkups for76,821, activated 364 publichealth care centers and 1,111public schools and ended childlabor in 501 villages in India,the release said.
Monica Kharkar, marketing manager for CRY America, left,; Padma Desai, Gladys andRoland Harriman Professor at Columbia University, center, and Shefali Sunderlal,president, CRY America at the May 10 gala held at Taj, The Pierre in New York.
CRY America Celebrates 10th Anniversary Gala
By a Staff Writer
– CHICAGO, Ill.op local restaurants unit-ed on May 2 at theChicago Cultural Centerto support survivors of
domestic violence in immigrantcommunities at the fifth annualTaste for Life hosted by ApnaGhar.
More than 400 people attend-ed the gala, which raised over$100,000 to fund critical servicesprovided by the group, accordingto a press release from the organ-izers. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn,Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel,U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky andState Comptroller Judy BaarTopinka sent congratulatorymessages, the press release said.
An hour-long VIP receptionfeatured hors d’oeuvres preparedby chefs Hiran Patel and SahilSingh.
Later, at the main event, smallplate dishes were providedAmerican Junkie, Atwood Café,
Bombay Wraps, Cabot CreameryCooperative, Cantina Laredo,Chocolat – Uzma Sharif,Dishoom Foods, Emilio’s Tapas,Gaylord Fine Indian Restaurant,Isla Pilipina, Metropolitan Club,Peacock Indian Restaurant,Sullivan’s Steakhouse, Sataza andUntitled. Wine and beer tastingswere offered by RevolutionBrewing Company, MaverickWine Company, Wirtz, Vintageand City Grocery. Pepsi providednonalcoholic beverages.
Each restaurant incorporateda purple food item into one of itsdishes, purple being the color ofdomestic violence awareness,the release said.
Gaylord restaurant receivedthe most votes for the PurpleDish Award. The award was pre-sented by “MasterChef” contest-ant Suzy Singh to managerKamran Ali. A raffle featured giftcertificate packages donated byrestaurants, clubs, tourist attrac-tions, etc. Of the six prizes, theChicago for Foodies Package waswon by Ruben Salazar who get to
dine at Rosebud Restaurants,Epic, Argo Tea, Black Dog Gelato,Travernita and Tru.
Deepika Sharma won thegrand prize donated by RamzanDhanji and the BellagioHotel.Students from the MusicInstitute of Chicago took turns inplaying various instruments.Saiyed G. Rabbani, president ofApna Ghar’s board of directors,spoke about its founding by fivewomen in 1990.
Executive Director SerenaChen Low explained how ApnaGhar got its name from a picturedrawn by an elementary schoolstudent.Event chairs SabrinaHans and Monika Sharma intro-duced the participating restau-rants. A video titled “Nishaat is aSurvivor” presented the case of agirl who moved into an ApnaGhar shelter with her mother forsix months at the age of 4.
She is now a student atGeorgetown University andwants to start a domestic vio-lence awareness group on cam-pus, the release said.
Shelter Raises Over $100,000 forBattered Immigrant Women
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Participating restaurants show off their commemoration plaques. Manager Kamran Ali of Gaylord Restaurant,which won the Purple Dish Award, is front center.
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