BOSTON – Akshaya Patra USA will hold its first virtual gala of 2021, Partnerships for Happiness, on Saturday, April 24th, to raise funds for hunger relief to migrant families and the mid-day meal beneficiaries in India. The event is hosted by Boston, Buffalo, Grand Rapids, Maryland and Virginia Chapters.
“Boston Chapter has always been the leader in innovative fundraisers, including being the first chapter to lead the virtual galas, last year,” said Vandana Tilak, President of the Akshaya Patra Foundation USA.
Plans are underway to have an extravagant virtual gala featuring various speakers, including Sonu Sood, a Bollywood actor, producer, and humanitarian. In May 2020, Sood helped thousands of stranded Indian migrant workers reach their homes by arranging buses, special trains, and chartered flights for them. In July 2020, he organized a chartered flight to bring home over 1,500 Indian students stranded in Kyrgyzstan, flying them from Bishkek to Varanasi. As a result of Sood’s humanitarian and charity work during the pandemic, he was chosen for the prestigious ‛SDG Special Humanitarian Action Award’ by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Joining Sood will be world-renowned, Dr. Deepak Chopra, Founder of The Chopra Center for Wellbeing and a member of the Advisory Board of Akshaya Patra USA. Dr. Chopra, the author of bestseller ‘Ageless Body, Timeless Mind’ and 30 other such books, is an Indian-American author and alternative medicine advocate. A prominent figure in the New Age movement, his books and videos have made him one of the best-known and wealthiest figures in alternative medicine. The final speaker will be the talented Milind Pant, CEO of Amway and Vice Chair of the U.S.-India Business Council Global Board of Directors.
Established in 2006, the Boston Chapter is the oldest US Chapter and pioneered the way for the other 30 US Chapters. The Boston Chapter has a supportive and generous donor base throughout Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Rhode Island. It is anticipated that 1,000 families will be in attendance. Anyone interested in becoming an event sponsor or donor, can find out more information by visiting the Akshaya Patra USA website. All event sponsors and donors will be recognized and thanked through event promotional and marketing material, social media, and an e-newsletter.
Mark your calendars for an exciting and fun-filled evening as you join for Partnerships for Happiness virtual gala on April 24th. The gala is coordinated by the Boston chapter Co-Chairs Ajita Bhat, Venkat Kolluri, Bela Chandok, Rajeev Jain, and Chandu Shah, along with the Board of Advisor, Rakesh Kamdar and Chairman Emeritus, Desh Deshpande.
The Akshaya Patra Boston chapter last year announced the transition of the local leadership Then Boston Chapter Chair Rakesh Kamdar transitioned to an Advisory Board member, and was succeeded by four new Co-Chairs, Ajita Bhat, Anjan Mehta, Venkat Kolluri and Chandu Shah.
Here brief bios of Boston Chapter New Co-Chairs:
Ajita Bhat
Ajita has been with Akshaya Patra for the past ten years and is passionate about the cause. For the past years, she has been the Volunteer Manager of the Boston chapter and currently hosts the women’s club. In her free time, she likes to go on hikes and spends time with horticulture.
Besides Akshayapatra, Ajita spends her time working for other NGOs as well.
Anjan Mehta
Anjan and his wife Ameeta have been in the Boston area since 1980 and are active members of the AP Boston Chapter for the past eight years. Anjan is an active Board Member, Investor with a Management role in Early to mid-Stage VC and PE-backed Life Sciences Companies.
Anjan was born in Mandvi Kutchh, Gujrat. Anjan and Ameeta are planning to be “snow-birds” in Orlando, FL area.
Venkat Kolluri
Venkat is the Founder and CEO at Cidewalk.com, a premium mobile advertising and text message marketing company. Venkat also co-founded Chitika, Inc., the parent
company of Cidewalk and Krosslink.Org, an entrepreneurial program empowering public libraries intending to help nurture and develop aspiring entrepreneurs across 10,000 US Public Libraries by 2025.
Venkat serves as a member of the WPI Data Science Advisory Board. In 2015, Venkat was nominated for the ILC Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year Award and recognized as the MetroWest Top 10 to Watch by WBJ journal. Venkat received from TiE Boston the Crystal Award for a Charter Member who built his company from the ground up and the TiE Star award for leadership. Venkat holds a Ph.D. from University of Pittsburgh.
Chandu Shah
Chandu is the President and CEO of an Aero-Space Defense firm S4 Inc. Supporting US Government, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Defense Customers. S4 Inc. has been named the fastest-growing private company in America by Boston Business Journal (BBJ) and Inc. 500/5000. Chandu was named the state of Massachusetts Minority Business Person of the year in 2007.
Chandu is also a poet, playwright, and a filmmaker. He has been part of Bollywood movies and has produced independent American films. His short film was the winner of the National Award for the Best Experimental Film in 1982. He has been associated with Akshaya Patra Boston Chapter for over ten years.
In response to COVID-19, Akshaya Patra has provided over 78 million meals served in 28 cities to migrant workers and their families and supplies Happiness Boxes, which contains 30 days’ worth of food, hygiene products, educational supplies for our mid-day meal beneficiaries. For more infomration, visit https://foodforeducation.org/
Established in 2000, Akshaya Patra is the world’s largest NGO school meal program, providing hot, nutritious school lunches to over 1.8 million children in over 19,257 schools through 55 kitchens in 12 states and two Union Territories in India. It costs only $20 to feed a child for an entire school year. Since the COVID-19 lockdown began on March 24th, Akshaya Patra has served more than 112 million meals to migrant workers and our beneficiaries and their families.
Please register and join Akshaya Patra USA first virtual Boston gala of 2021, Partnerships for Happiness, on Saturday, April 24th, 2021.
Visit Akshayapatra at https://foodforeducation.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/akshayapatrausa/
Instagram: @akshayapatrausa
Twitter: @AkshayaPatraUSA
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/AkshayaPatraUSA
For Further Information:
Ankita Narula, ankita@apusa.org
Geeta Kulkarni, geeta@apusa.org
Geeta Rai: Geeta.Rai@apusa.org
