Buoyed by the success of cricket tournaments over past 7 years, IDRF organized its first ever Volleyball tournament in Burlington, MA.  18 teams including teams from Greater Boston area, New Hampshire and Connecticut took part in this unique fund-raiser to support construction of hostel & vocational center for boys in Jammu, India. Each team paid an entry fee of $60 for participating in the event and IDRF received significant donations from sponsors of the event.

Teams of 3 were split into 6 different groups and were pitted against each other in a round robin format in the tournament that started on Saturday, August 25th. Soaring temperatures nearing 100 degrees could not deter the teams from carrying on with the scheduled games. Winner from each group proceeded to the  Super Six round played on Sunday. Nashua Spikers with its strong all-round performance made into finals very easily while Lowell Baba team scored a thrilling three set victory over AP Express to become the other finalist. In the finals, spirited performances from Lowell Baba team members made the first set very competitive but it wasn’t enough as Spikers intensified their attack in the second set led by Raj, Chan and Prasad. As a result, Nashua Spikers continued their winning streak with the final score reading 16-14, 15-7 to become the first IDRF Volley ball Champions.

The finals were followed by the prize distribution ceremony. Chief Guest for the ceremony, Mr. Vijay Manwani, Co-founder & CTO of Bladelogic, a data center automation company based in Lexington, distributed trophies to the winning team Nashua Spikers and runner-up team Lowell Baba. Mr Manwani was accompanied by his nine year old daughter Rhea to whom he explained about the cause IDRF has undertaken. Mr. Manwani mentioned that he came to know about IDRF during Gujarat Earthquake in 2001 and  appreciated IDRF's continued commitment to the empowerment of down-trodden and needy.

Narendra and Jyoti Popat of Hope Foundation were platinum sponsors for the IDRF's sports events this summer. Sushil Tuli of Leader Bank, a premier financial services organization and Bladelogic were the gold sponsors. Patni Computers and Indian Village restaurant in Billerica were the silver sponsors.

Players and spectators were all praise for organizers for carrying out with perfection such a grand event. IDRF will send funds from this event to Seva Bharathi, a highly reputed NGO in India, for constructing Boys Hostel & Vocational school in Katra, on the foot-hills of famous Vaishnava Devi temple near Jammu. The total cost of this project undertaken by IDRF is Rs 30 lakhs ($80K) for which construction work was undertaken few months back. You can find latest pictures of this project on our website (http://www.idrf.org).

IDRF´s mission is to support volunteer-based, honest and highly experienced non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in India in serving their populations´ critical needs in education, health care, and welfare, without regard to religion, caste or creed. We request you all to join us in volunteering or help us in any way you can to support the ones who need it the most.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact us via email at idrfboston@yahoo.com, or visit http://www.idrf.org.

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