AMERICAN INDIA FOUNDATION NEW ENGLAND GALA

RAISES OVER $ 800,000  TO EDUCATE CHILDREN OF INDIAN MIGRANT WORKERS

 

Boston, MA – On November 22nd , the American India Foundation (AIF) held its 8th Annual New England Gala at the Seaport Boston Hotel. Over 400 prominent professionals and philanthropists were in attendance including Madhur Jaffrey (award-winning actress & best-selling cookery author and well known philanthropists in New England.

The event raised over $800,000 in a night of giving that included a silent auction, a lively live auction and a pledge drive that donors gave generously. One-hundred percent of the proceeds will go towards supporting the Learning and Migration Program (LAMP). Across India, approximately 72 million people migrate from their villages in remote rural areas every year in search of labor, uprooting entire families for up to eight months at a time in hazardous work sites. In 2003, the American India Foundation (AIF) launched LAMP to provide children affected by migration with resources to attend local schools, stable home and educational environments, as well as safe and structured care in seasonal residential hostels during migration season. To date, the program has impacted 323, 414 children. 

The special honoree of the event was Dr John Maraganore, the CEO of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc who spoke eloquently on giving and on how his company had many scientist and persons of Indian origin. It was a fitting tribute to the cause. Raj and Nalini Sharma, AIF Trustees conducted the live auction. The event was put together by Program chairs Srinivas and Nikhila Ambati, longtime supporters of the cause. The highlights included a conversation with three young champs Arya, Diya and Shrunothra who raised money in a crowdfunding campaign in June of this year. Rupa Shenoy of WGBH was the Emcee for the evening. Dr Sanjiv Chopra and Amita Chopra were Gala Chairs for the evening.

The American India Foundation is committed to catalyzing social and economic change in India and building a lasting bridge between the United States and India through high-impact interventions in education, livelihoods, public health, and leadership development, with a particular emphasis on empowering girls and women to achieve gender equity. Working closely with local communities, AIF partners with NGOs to develop and test innovative solutions and with governments to create and scale sustainable impact. Founded in 2001 at the initiative of President Bill Clinton, AIF has impacted the lives of more than 2.3 million of India’s poor and aims to reach 5 million by 2018. Learn more at http://www.AIF.org