From left: Bhakti Sharma, Laura Frye, Dr. Kiran Bhatia, Alexis Angelo, Aneel Bhimani Photos: Jawahar Malhotra
HOUSTON: The Sewa Houston community gathered together the evening of Friday, January 10 to honor some of Sewa’s most dedicated volunteers and community partners. Volunteers are the lifeline of Sewa International, and as such, Sewa’s volunteer base is truly appreciated for their continuous support and efforts in strengthening the organization and assisting the Houston community.
The evening’s program was led by two of Sewa Houston’s newest members, AmeriCorps Volunteers, Alexis Angelo and Laura Frye. President Saroj Gupta began the festivities by sharing her gratitude with all of Sewa’s devoted volunteers.
Through the efforts of volunteers Sewa has expanded its four program verticals, namely: Refugee Empowerment, Family Services, Get Inspired Houston, and Sewa Local Events. Ganesh Raghu spoke about community outreach involved in the Bhutanese Refugee Empowerment program and the great success in Screen Printing classes that were established in the Los Arcos Apartments as a means for skill development. Sewa’s AmeriCorps VISTA team Aneel Bhimani, Bhakti Sharma, Laura Frye, and Alexis Angelo spoke about the expansion of Sewa’s youth programming into Alief Independent School District’s Language Institute for Newcomers program and future goals for outreach in the Alief area. Ritesh Seal and Kunal Deshmukh reported Sewa’s successes in helping to plan the De Ghuma Ke Cricket Tournament in October 2013 which raised $15,000 for Uttarakhand flood relief. Sewa President, Saroj Gupta, and Arun Kankani Spoke about the development of the Sewa Family Services Program, which has grown tremendously in the past year and is expanding to include a Stop Diabetes Movement in 2014. Finally, Kavita Tewary spoke to the audience about Local Sewa Events and the great work that the high school volunteers have been able to accomplish in the last year, which led to Sewa being awarded the Jefferson Award for Public Service by the Mayor’s Office.
Sewa honored some of their community partners who were instrumental in Sewa’s growth over the past year. These partners included: Gujarati Samaj, Texas Children’s Mobile Clinic Program, Ibn Sina Foundation, Star Plus Dental, Alief ISD’s Language Institute for Newcomers program. Sewa also recognized Dal Bahadur Darlami, a dedicated participant in the Skill Building Program at Los Arcos Apartments. Each of these awards was presented by Sewa’s special guests: Ramesh Bhutada, Arun Verma, Surrend and Lalita Trehan, Vijay Pallod, and Subhash Gupta. The evening’s program was followed by a dinner catered by Madras Pavilion.