Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA, SE region held its annual fundraiser at Berkmar High School on August 9, 2008. EVFUSA is a non-profit organization which supports basic education to children in the rural and tribal areas of India. Currently it has more than 26,000 schools running all over India.

About 150 people attended the fundraiser event. The program started with a Kathak Thumari by Samta Savla. She is a student in Nritya Natya Kala Bharti Acedamy. This was followed by a warm welcome from Rachna Gupta, MC, and C.M. Aggarwal, Regional Vice President. Amitabh Sharma made a passionate presentation about Ekal, and the urgency to impart education to the forgotten children of India. He urged the audience to get involved in the Ekal movement by donating schools and volunteering for the organization.

The talented Pandya Family from Lexington, KY with Raj, Smruti, Amit, and Eshna kept everyone glued to their seats till 11.30 PM. They have given more than 750 concerts in last 12 years all over USA. They started with a prayer, followed by new Bollywood songs. The audience clapped their hands with the fast numbers. At 10.00 PM there was a dinner break, which was catered and served by Monika Kumar. People enjoyed the Chhola Bhatura and the Samosas. The second half was old nostalgic songs from the 60’s, which seemed to be more popular with the audience. The songs included Kajrare Kajrare and Ramaya Vasta Vaya.

Raj Kamal Foundation donated two $50.00 Cash Visa Cards for raffling. The winning raffle tickets were picked at 11.30 pm.

In addition to several programs throughout the year, Ekal has an annual fundraising program. The purpose is to raise awareness about the need for rural development and raise funds for Ekal Schools. Neelum Tariyal co-ordinated the overall program, who was supported by many volunteers such as Ajay Bhatt, Manhar Valand, Sudershan & Kusum Khurana, Tilak Sikri, Sneha & Vasav Mehta, Sneh and Ravi Gupta, Shobha Aggarwal, Sant Khanna, Manju & Malla Reddy, Sachin Subhedar, Jairam Yerramilli, Dr. Krishan Gupta, Narendra Mehta and Dr. Basant Tariyal.