HOH had many reasons to cheer as the 12th Annual Fundraiser drew to a close at midnight. The event raised close to $130,000 despite the economy. "This is the most challenging year that many of us have seen," said Nalini Bhat, Home of Hope's president. "But the children of Home of Hope have thrived because of you," she told the audience of supporters.
The plea to "open your hearts and wallets" by President Dr. Nalini Bhat and heart-warming stories of changed lives, moved the audience of over 500 to action.
Whilst the ultimate goal of the evening was to raise money for the 3000 underprivileged children served by HOH, this time more than ever before, it was not only about the destination but also the journey. The journey of the evening was beautifully executed. Kudos went to first time emcee for the event, Scott Budman, NBC reporter and anchorman for business and technology. He was the stationmaster who kept the evening's speeches, video presentations and entertainment moving along right on track and thus keeping the audience engaged with each changing scene on stage.
Budman volunteered his time and talent to serve a cause which had touched his heart a couple of years ago, while on assignment in India to do the "Bay to Bangalore" series for NBC. One visit to HOH project in Atmashree, Bangalore conveyed to Budman the important life changing work that is being done by HOH.
The dinner was held at Chandini restaurant, Fremont on Saturday Sept 12th. The white linen tablecloths and gold tasseled chairs, fresh flowers transformed the banquet room into picture perfect elegance. Beautiful posters with smile adorned faces of the HOH children were strategically placed from the entrance to the stage reminding the audience of the purpose of the evening at each moment. The lobby of the restaurant featured the black and white photos of Vicky Roy, a former street child who was mentored by the Salam Balaak project in New Delhi. Roy recently held an exhibition of his photos in New York and has been invited by Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, to present his work in London from Nov. 23-30. Roy was to be the chief guest at Saturday evening's event, but did not receive a visa in time for his flight.
The diamond martini bar was a great addition to the cocktail hour. Guests bought $25 martinis with a chance to win a one -karat diamond. The chance of winning the solitaire were high with martini ticket sales being limited to 100. Pummy Purewal, a long-time Home of Hope supporter, was the lucky winner of the diamond donated by Kavita Malaviya of Emkay Jewelers.
Beauty queens have become an integral part of the HOH fundraiser and this year was no different. Guests were ushered to their tables by Taranum Bhatti-Miss India North America 2009, Disha Patel-Miss India California 2009, Sasha Hoffman-former Miss India Globe (yr 2008),Richa Shukla-Miss India Northern California 2008, Anjali Chatwani-Miss India Galaxy 2009 and continued to help throughout the evening
Award winning humanitarian and chairperson of HOH, Nilima Sabharwal reminded the audience that it is within the power of each one of us to fight poverty and destiny. "People see these destitute kids and say, 'well, that is their destiny'. Home of Hope defies that destiny," she said.Consider 12 year old Alahya Kumar at our Karaikal computer lab. Destiny should have made him a fisherman - hoping to get fish. Instead, he is gazing into a computer, which is now his ocean and his fish is...HOPE for a better future .
The evening entertainment featured HriThyms, a local dance troupe; and stand-up comedian Samson Koletkar, a Hindu-Jewish hybrid billed as "the Indian Seinfeld" - offering a clean light, hearted act for a diverse audience. Later in the evening, audience heard some soulful melodies, sponsored at $100 a pop.
'Kids helping Kids' has always been a significant part of HOH work. The evening offered two teens the opportunity to voice how effective their efforts have been in making a difference. Rupali Saiya, a junior at Amador Valley High School founded Crafts for Hope a vocational training program teaching crocheting to young women in Pune. Saiya's program has trained five young women, who are all paid a living wage to create shawls, afghans, sweaters and pet-wear, which will be sold online at craftsofhope.com. The five women will then train other women in crocheting.
Anika Ayyar, an eighth grader at Harker School, founded "Skip a Birthday." Ayyar's project encourages youngsters to pare down birthday celebrations, instead donating the amount and cash gifts to their favorite charities. Additionally, Anjali Bajaj, 13, and her brother Aneesh, 9, donated $227 that they had raised by selling Anjali's handmade jewelry.
College student Mika Bhatia attended with a friend, and found the evening to be meaningful. She said "as a student, it's so easy to get caught up in my own busy life at school and forget that many others in the world aren't as fortunate as I am. This evening my eyes were opened to what HOH children are going through".
Last year, Home of Hope launched a new program, Koshish, in New Delhi. The organization launched an informal school in a settlement slum known as New Priyanka camp, and plans to install a computer learning center there. The evening featured videos, created by independent filmmaker Don Hardy, of the Koshish project, along with similar projects in Karaikal, Pondicherry - virtually decimated by the 2004 tsunami - and Salaam Baalak in New Delhi.
HOH currently supports 15 projects throughout India and California-based CEID in Oakland. Home of Hope is building a partnership between CEID and hearing-impaired children at the Pingalwara Charitable Society in Punjab.
Dr. Bhat said "moving forward we want to broaden our menu of services and opportunities we want to give HOH children, like ' mentorship program'. These children have been deprived of a lot in their young lives, a mentor would be someone they can look up to as a role model and someone who can give them confidence to realize their dreams. Services like these need more money." As awareness grows, HOH hopes more people will become involved with this great cause.
CHECK BACK SOON ON THE WEBSITE FOR THE VIDEO AND PICTURE GALLERY
For more information on Home of Hope and our current projects and how you can help, please visit us at www.hohinc.org. Your support is very important to the success of our mission.
You can also write to us at info@hohinc.org
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