BY GINA DARGAN
LONG BEACH, CA –The Lotus Petal Foundation hosted its annual gala dinner here on May 18. Founded in 2011, this non-profit organization has expanded exponentially through the years as they continuously strive to provide fundamental healthcare and quality education to children living in the slums of India.
LONG BEACH, CA –The Lotus Petal Foundation hosted its annual gala dinner here on May 18. Founded in 2011, this non-profit organization has expanded exponentially through the years as they continuously strive to provide fundamental healthcare and quality education to children living in the slums of India.
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The night was filled with entertainment, heartening stories, and many opportunities to support the youth living in the urban slums of India.
The event was kicked off by one of the key sponsors, Pankaj Kumar, CTO of UNIFY, who welcomed the guests with a brief anecdote emphasizing the importance of kindness. He mentioned the significance of going against human nature of taking shortcuts and, instead, pouring that same energy into the world through generosity and taking a step, no matter how big or small, towards helping others. On that note, he thanked the audience for doing their share of imparting good in the world and introduced Kushal Raj, the founder of Lotus Petal Foundation.
What Raj brought to the audience without a doubt, was the highlight of the night. Raj took his time recalling his humble beginnings of creating this impactful organization eight years ago. During the brutal Delhi winter in 2011, Raj was worried that the bundle of layers on his two daughters were not enough to keep them warm as they waited for the school bus. However, sorrow and sympathy clutched Raj’s heart
The event was kicked off by one of the key sponsors, Pankaj Kumar, CTO of UNIFY, who welcomed the guests with a brief anecdote emphasizing the importance of kindness. He mentioned the significance of going against human nature of taking shortcuts and, instead, pouring that same energy into the world through generosity and taking a step, no matter how big or small, towards helping others. On that note, he thanked the audience for doing their share of imparting good in the world and introduced Kushal Raj, the founder of Lotus Petal Foundation.
What Raj brought to the audience without a doubt, was the highlight of the night. Raj took his time recalling his humble beginnings of creating this impactful organization eight years ago. During the brutal Delhi winter in 2011, Raj was worried that the bundle of layers on his two daughters were not enough to keep them warm as they waited for the school bus. However, sorrow and sympathy clutched Raj’s heart
as he witnessed three young children across the neighborhood walking to school barefoot. This drastic disparity struck a chord within him, and thus, he sought to make a difference in the slums of India. Quitting his corporate career, taking a loan of $60,000, and renting a single room to turn into a classroom, Raj officially embarked on his journey towards helping the youth one child at a time. What started with six children in that makeshift classroom, has now expanded to 550 students across the three programs the Foundation offers.
The programs include Praishthan Learning Center, Vidyananda School, and Aarogya Wellness. Praishthan, translating to “foundation”, provides a fast track program that educates and prepares students accordingly in order to integrate them within a formal job and mainstream society. Vidyananda, meaning “joy of education”, is where children are given a solid foundation of education and learn at their age-appropriate levels. Lastly, Raj recognized the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle and included the Aarogya program, which provides students with two meals, counseling services, and the opportunity to meet a doctor weekly. Raj continued to tug on the guest’s heartstrings as he showed the accomplishments many of the students have been able to achieve across all three of these platforms.
Due to the massive success the Lotus Petal Foundation has seen thus far, the next step, as Raj discussed, is expanding to create a campus just outside the city of Gurgaon. He shared a video of the envisioned 120,000 square foot campus, which will include top-class infrastructure, as found in private schools, along with other top-grade facilities in order to provide these underprivileged children the best quality of education as possible. With a budget of $5 million, the foundation has currently reached $2.1 million and needs $600,000 more in order to implement Phase 1 and begin construction later this year in September. Thanks to key donors such as Pankaj Kumar who donated the land to build the campus upon, Navneet Chugh who donated a quarter of a million dollars, and with many other sizeable donations, the Foundation was able to close the gap on their goal. Raj ended his segment with a Q&A from the audience and provided more insight towards his goals and vision for the future.
Later in the evening, many individuals were awarded for their leadership contributions towards helping the Indian community. Nitin Bajaj from Pratham; Navin Doshi founder of Nalanda International; Brinda Gandhi and Marilyn Neece from SAHARA; Smita Bagla from The Indus Entrepreneurs(TiE) SoCal, and Navneet Chugh, founder of Chugh LLP, were all recognized for their tremendous leadership.
As the night came to a close, there were multiple entertainment acts during dinner from singer, Preetysha, a Bollywood dance from Roshni and Sanchi Kohli, Bollywood singing from Roopali Deshmukh, and a violin performance from Simran Dandiwal. The silent auction results were also announced.
The programs include Praishthan Learning Center, Vidyananda School, and Aarogya Wellness. Praishthan, translating to “foundation”, provides a fast track program that educates and prepares students accordingly in order to integrate them within a formal job and mainstream society. Vidyananda, meaning “joy of education”, is where children are given a solid foundation of education and learn at their age-appropriate levels. Lastly, Raj recognized the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle and included the Aarogya program, which provides students with two meals, counseling services, and the opportunity to meet a doctor weekly. Raj continued to tug on the guest’s heartstrings as he showed the accomplishments many of the students have been able to achieve across all three of these platforms.
Due to the massive success the Lotus Petal Foundation has seen thus far, the next step, as Raj discussed, is expanding to create a campus just outside the city of Gurgaon. He shared a video of the envisioned 120,000 square foot campus, which will include top-class infrastructure, as found in private schools, along with other top-grade facilities in order to provide these underprivileged children the best quality of education as possible. With a budget of $5 million, the foundation has currently reached $2.1 million and needs $600,000 more in order to implement Phase 1 and begin construction later this year in September. Thanks to key donors such as Pankaj Kumar who donated the land to build the campus upon, Navneet Chugh who donated a quarter of a million dollars, and with many other sizeable donations, the Foundation was able to close the gap on their goal. Raj ended his segment with a Q&A from the audience and provided more insight towards his goals and vision for the future.
Later in the evening, many individuals were awarded for their leadership contributions towards helping the Indian community. Nitin Bajaj from Pratham; Navin Doshi founder of Nalanda International; Brinda Gandhi and Marilyn Neece from SAHARA; Smita Bagla from The Indus Entrepreneurs(TiE) SoCal, and Navneet Chugh, founder of Chugh LLP, were all recognized for their tremendous leadership.
As the night came to a close, there were multiple entertainment acts during dinner from singer, Preetysha, a Bollywood dance from Roshni and Sanchi Kohli, Bollywood singing from Roopali Deshmukh, and a violin performance from Simran Dandiwal. The silent auction results were also announced.
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