Many ways to celebrate India
This Republic Day brought some happy announcements for the nonprofit sector. Dr. V Shanta was awarded a Padma Vibhushan. Dr. Shanta has been tirelessly working to make cancer treatment more affordable to the poorer sections of society. (Watch our blog next month for more updates on the work of cancer NGOs!) Dr. Shanta runs one of the ‘biggest and busiest cancer hospitals in India’, her enthusiasm unabated at the age of 87. Incidentally, she is also the grand-niece of Nobel Prize winner C.V. Raman! Madhu Pandita Dasa of the Akshaya Patra Foundation and Arunachalam Muruganantham (India’s sanitary pad revolutionary) were awarded the Padma Shri, as were several other accomplished social workers. Congratulations to them all.
HelpYourNGO facilitated several connections this month. We are happy to report that Art for Akanksha’s lovely calendars have found a place at the desks of one of our clients. CSR portal Sammaan is attracting attention from corporate houses. The “Be a Brick!” Campaign has seen donors commit over Rs25,000 in just one month. The nicest moment of our month was helping Cricket Club of India with their annual Republic Day event in Mumbai. Nearly 300 children and young adults with disabilities from various NGOs came together on the CCI lawns for an evening of celebration.
February is just around the corner; time for the Deshpande Dialogue. The Dialogue is the flagship event of the Deshpande Foundation set up by NRI millionaire Desh Deshpande. Desh’s vision is to build a Silicon-Valley like incubator for social entrepreneurship in India. Unexpectedly, it’s in Hubli, not Bengaluru, and hopes to back rural entrepreneurs and students; not the usual suspects that come to mind when one hears ‘entrepreneurship’. In its short life, The Dialogue has made a name for itself as a no-frills gathering of some of the brightest and most accomplished minds in the social sector. Members of team HelpYourNGO will be heading off to Hubli, so if you are at the Dialogue do say hi!
