Dear BANA member,
One of our stated missions is to support worthy causes as part of BANA’s charitable activities. I’m writing to you about a cause that’s important to me and the BANA leadership team - it is a worthy cause that I hope all of you will want to support.
I am appealing to our esteemed members for generous donations to BANA in support of Saanidhya, a non-profit organization based in Mangalore that provides special education, pre-vocational training, speech therapy and a host of other services to children with developmental disabilities who are often neglected by our society. I have personally visited this facility, met with the general secretary of the organization, Mr. Vasanth Kumar Shetty and several teachers who passionately work with the children to teach them educational as well as vocational skills in an effort to transition these kids to lead a successful adult life. Pre-vocational training is offered for these children to help them become as self-reliant as possible. This includes tasks like making envelopes, painting pottery, making greeting cards, candles and cloth bags.
Long-term plans for Saanidhya include providing a training facility and developing an outreach program with local communities. In the short term, there are a few items on Saanidhya’s wish list including: books, uniforms, play ground equipment, musical instruments, educational aids, sports and recreational equipment, and computers. To learn more about this worthy organization in supporting Mangalore’s most vulnerable children, please visit www.saanidhya.org
I am convinced that our support will have a positive, measurable impact on this caring, efficiently run organization and provide them with the much needed funds to sustain current programs as well as future needs.
April was the National Autism Awareness month. A special thanks to BANA Vice-President, Shweta Adyanthaya for a well written article on Autism. Let us show our solidarity by joining hands with Saanidhya and help them provide opportunities to these special children to become valued members of the society. I am urging all of you to donate generously in support of this worthy cause. Please help us meet our fundraising goal of $10,000. Checks should be made payable to BANA (mailed to 1 Seabrook Ct., Montgomery Village, MD 20886) and write Project Saanidhya in the notes section of your check. You can make a positive difference in the lives of these special children.
Satish S. Shetty
BANA President, Washington, D. C.
“It is a lonely existence to be a child with a disability which no one can see or understand, you exasperate your teacher, you disappoint your parents and worst of all you know that you are not stupid.”
Susan Hampshire
Child advocate and Actress
Transition to Electronic Version of Newsletter
Thank you to the regional representatives for undertaking the monumental task of collecting and compiling e-mails from their regions. Kudos to those super Representatives who got the information in to us in such a timely manner!
This transition is a big process and we appreciate your patience as we make the change to the electronic version of the newsletter. If you or a family member have not received your Banavani via an e-mail notification, please contact Prashanth Shetty, Membership coordinator at banaship@gmail.com with your updated e-mail addresses.