While Vibha Atlanta has various fundraisers planned year-round, this year, the Action Center came up with a singular concept
-“Vibe“.
Vibe was a cultural fundraising event that involved the local leaders, with an intent to create more visibility for Vibha and having the patrons form a personal connection with the cause and celebrate the joy of giving with their families and friends.
The format of the event as such was simple; distinguished ‘Star’ couples, chosen by the Vibe team, paired with choreographers of their choice would compete on the floor in a Dance Face-off. These stars would also be entrusted a task of raising funds for Vibha by influencing their friends and families to contribute for the cause. The event, organized by Vindali Vartak, in its self was a grand success. Through the dedication of all the volunteers and the participants, $80,000 were generated for various Vibha supported projects.
Among the 11 dancing couples, one was Henna Bakshi (an HLN associate producer) and her husband Andy Leverett (a filmmaker by trade).
This duo was supporting Jan Madhyam, one of the projects, in New Delhi, that works toward betterment of disabled children, especially girls, from marginalized sections of society – the most disadvantaged in terms of rights and opportunities. Jan Madhyam’s program focuses on the creation of an inclusive environment that allows the able and the disabled to work and play together.
Since Henna and Andy were supporting Jan Madhyam, they were very keen in knowing more about the project. And what could be better than hearing the experiences of the children who have been studying in Jan Madhyam and the staff themselves! With the help of Deep Ranjini Rai, Vindali Vartak and others, Henna was able to set up a Skype call in order to meet with
the staff and children at Jan Madhyam and was able to talk to every one of them. Henna’s husband Andy helped her to put together a short video of the conversation they all had. The link below will direct to the video on youtube:
Henna also shared this distinctive experience of hers on her Facebook page, where she wrote; “I recently had the unique opportunity to speak to the children who go to Jan Madhyam in New Delhi. Here they receive specialized education and therapy for a variety of disabilities, in an environment where these services are not readily available, especially for the underprivileged. We learned so much by talking to these children–mostly that they have big dreams, just like you and me, and it’s only the card they are dealt that is a difficult one. But with hope and a lot of hard work, they are shining. I mean, look at them smile!”
This whole event is a very good example of how Vibha beneficiaries and patrons are connected with each other and how much efforts Vibha volunteers put to make this connection happen.