WALTHAM, MA—In the face of growing coronavirus pandemic that has now touched several members of the Indian-America community, INDIA New England News today announced that it is postponing its 18th annual Woman of the Year Awards gala to Sept. 11, 2020 at Burlington Marriott Hotel in Burlington, MA.
“As our community suffers, it is not a time to celebrate, and with a heavy heart we have decided to postpone the Woman of the Year event that was originally scheduled for May 8,” said Upendra Mishra, producer of the gala and the publisher of INDIA New England News. “We are also going to withhold the announcement of names of 20 outstanding women who will be honored during the gala until after the state emergency is lifted.”
Dr. Manju Sheth, MD, director of Woman of the Year, said that It does not feel right to have a celebratory event like Woman of the Year at this time when almost everyone is suffering in some way.
“Overjoyed , proud but not ready to celebrate yet. Woman of the Year is an 18-year-old institution which I have had the honor of directing for eight years. We as a team wait all year for this joyous moment of sharing the names of these wonderfully empowered women followed by six to eight weeks of anticipatory joy leading up the big gala. 2020, however, is a different story,” said Dr. Sheth. “We have the list of our extraordinary winners but we are not ready to celebrate, not while there is so much suffering with this dreadful COVID-19 virus. It does not feel right to our producer or to me as a Doctor/ Director of WOY nor to our fabulous 20 winners and Recipient of Lifetime award winner. So we are going to wait till life stabilizes. We can promise you that it will be worth the wait. Let us beat COVID-19 first and then have the best gala ever.” Thank you all for your support. Stay home and take care of your health. We thank you for your support.”
