The Atlanta Chapter of Ekal Vidyalaya entertained the guests with a music program Ekal Shaam Bharat Ke Bachchon Ke Naam at Global Mall's Impact Center, Norcross, Georgia on June 20th, 2008. As it was a program aimed at creating and spreading awareness about Ekal, the organizers had dispensed with admission fee and hosted a vegetarian dinner tastefully prepared and served with care and attention by volunteers, Isha Goyal and Anushi Aggarwal.

Mr. K. L. Sachdeva of Atlanta Hindu Society, who had donated most liberally, lit the traditional Diya at 8 pm. Dedicated volunteers who coordinated the activities, efficiently managed the Sponsorship, Raffle, Information and Dinner tables. Malla Reddy and Sachin Subhedar gave a succinct and yet elucidatory PowerPoint presentation and Chander Aggarwal, VP reported on the efforts at fund raising of Southeast Region.

 

Rachna Gupta and Sneha Mehta, along with fifteen talented local singers, did remarkably well connecting the nearly 250 assembled guests with the Ekal cause through the old and new Bollywood film songs. The event would have lost much of its luster without the unstinting support of Navin Tyagi and his Shaam-E-Sargam group who not only feted the audience with their music but also lent the organizers their technical expertise. The event proudly showcased the talent of Nikhil Kodilkar, Chandrika Narayan, Indravadan Bhavsar, Pankaj Bhargav, Archith Sheshadri, Deepa Sreetal, Vijay Gaur, Mita Mehta, Shyam Gupta, Aishwarya Narendran, Supriya Shridharan, Shobha Patel, Pankaj Trivedi and Jagruti Trivedi.

The unswerving commitment of the people for Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation was evident as the entire event was financed by outside agencies. The venue was sponsored by Shiv Aggarwal, local artists came forward to perform without any monetary compensation and a family charity house, Rajkamal Foundation generously donated $180 and two $50.00 Visa cards for the Raffle. This donation of $180 combined with the Raffle proceeds of $550 helped to sponsor two schools. The philanthropists who had come as honored guests for the evening function were deeply impressed with the concept of Ekal's sponsorship of $365.00 per school per year, that they readily sponsored 25 schools located in the tribal areas of India. The entire collection has been sent to Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA, Houston.

The Southeast Region of Ekal Vidyalaya will hold its annual fundraiser event on Saturday, August 9th from 7:15 PM to 11:00 PM at Gwinnett County's Berkmar High School when the talented Pandya Group from Kentucky will be regaling the audience with their rendition of ghazals, bhajans, old and new Bollywood hit songs.

More information: http://ekalindia.org/ekal_new/index.php