the Indian Festival of Colors that marks the beginning of Spring!
New Delhi, March 19th
Bishop Sunil of the Church of Northern India presided at the dedication of the newly renovated wing of St. Michael’s School for Girls in New Delhi. The Bishop led with prayers and scripture readings and blessed the new block of classrooms, constructed with funds raised by the Giving Back Foundation. The renovation and reconstruction of the entire school, its playground and the new gardens for the young girls’ school have been entirely funded by the Foundation over the past few years. Meera Gandhi was presented with flowers and stirring words of gratitude by the children after the ceremonies.
We are grateful to our partners, Vivek and Poonam Talwar of Nitco, Mr. Getamber Anand of ATS Infrastructure Ltd for their in kind donation, and to Rajiv Agarwal, who gave of his time to oversee this project. It is thanks to our partners that we keep moving ahead.
Mumbai, March 20
Meera Gandhi, Founder and CEO of the international Giving Back Foundation, and the Foundation were delighted to sponsor and co-host the recent Loomba Foundation Gala for widows in Mumbai, with Lord Loomba, Mrs. Cherie Blair and Minister Ashwini Kumar in attendance. Meera Gandhi, in her speech to the guests, said,“When I first began the Giving Back Foundation, Lord Raj Loomba and the Honorable Cherie Blair were among my most important inspirations. Lord Loomba’s way of giving back is to honor the memory of his own mother, who was a widow and who faced hardships similar to the plight of so many widows of today. There are many widows, young and old, 245 million of them, in fact, with 100 million of those still living in poverty in 2013. Together with their children, it is a crisis that directly affects about three quarters of a billion people. This is a critical problem. Women and children are the main beneficiaries of the Giving Back Foundation and we were honored to su! pport such a worthy cause as the Loomba Foundation.”
Jodhpur, March 8th to 10th
The Royal Gala benefit weekend for the India Head Injury Foundation was held from March 8th to 10th in Jodhpur at Maharaja Gaj Singh’s palace, and 100 percent of the proceeds went to the India Head Injury Foundation, which the Maharaja started after his son suffered a serious brain injury during a polo match in 2005. The Giving Back Foundation played a major role in this fund-raising retreat. Sting performed at the palace for 150 guests in an unforgettable evening, with Prince Andrew, Sarah, Duchess of York, Princess Beatrice, Faroq Aga Khan, Reliance’s Mukesh and Nita Ambani amongst the glittering 100 hand-chosen guests for the event. The royal auction, open by phone to callers from all over the world, raised million for the Foundation that evening.
Punjab
The Giving Back Foundation is supporting the great work of the Khelshala in Punjab, a facility that is helping young people with extracurricular sports and activities programs that also include yoga, squash, fashion endeavors and music appreciation.
