Newsletter August 2020
Smashing Success of Ekal’s Virtual Concerts
- By Prakash Waghmare, EVF-USA
When the ‘Covid-19’ pandemic brought the worldwide life to a grinding halt, it posed a grave economic concern to Ekal movement. In absence of annual fundraising events across USA, the future of its numerous projects was in jeopardy. Therefore, ‘Ekal-USA’ launched a series of virtual concerts across North America, with groups of Ekal chapters as focal points. The two troupes engaged for virtual concerts, not only had a huge fan following but also had a proven record of success for fund-raising. One of the troupes was headed by Sa, Re, Ga, Ma contest winner Sanjeevani Bhelande and another was headlined by Milind Oak’s ‘Niche’ banner. ‘Event committee’, in consultation with ‘Technology-Team’ provided significant support to the chapters in strategic hookups with the Artistes performing live in the Indian studios. The Chapter-groups assigned for each concert did a remarkable job in marketing their concert by engaging the community and social organizations around them. Chapters beyond the spheres of the concert regions also helped out. Between May 23 and July 25, Sajeevani’s troupe had four virtual concerts and Milind Oak had two. All concerts were interactive and the donations were realized in ‘real-time’. The montage of Video-clips and narration about ‘Present day’s Ekal’ were very helpful. The Concert on May 23 for Midwest Regions by Sanjeevani raised $162,510; Concert on June 20 for Central Regions by Sanjeevani raised $367,830; Concert on June 28 for Northeast Regions by Milind Oak raised $239,800; Concert on July 11 for Washington DC by Sanjeevani raised $381,290; Concert on July 18 for Chicago, Milwaukee, Bloomington, Springfield Regions by Milind Oak raised $177,100 and Concert on July 25 for Canada-East by Sanjeevani raised CA $420,000. In short, within the span of two months, ‘Ekal’ raised approx. $1.65 Million. According to Arun Gupta, Chairman, ‘BOD’ – “This is a splendid testament to Donor’s trust in Ekal movement”. There are still a couple of more concerts to follow – specifically on Aug 1 concert for Southwest region by Hemant Kumar Group and on Aug 8 for Canada-West by Milind Oak’s group. Ekal is tax-exempt in several countries, including in USA and Canada.
Jammu Ekal students scored high in board exams
Alumnus of Ekal from the villages of Jammu scored very high marks in their 10th standard board exams. Their parents were very happy and thanked Ekal Abhiyan wholeheartedly. They said that their children were very weak in studies. The hard work and dedication of Ekal Acharyas was very timly and effective in building their understanding and have changed a lot in these children. They also believe that the good values inculcated by Ekal were very effective and is very much visible in their children.
Ankush Kumar (95% marks) - Sanch Cambal Danga, Village Tarabarola - Acharya Pooja Devi
Sahil sharma (70% marks) - Village Barata of Anchal Majalta, Sancha Jaganu. He studied in Ekal vidyalaya from 2014 to 2018, under Acharya Sunita Devi.
Suprieta Suvaria (87% marks) - Village Kahu of Anchal Majalata, Sancha Jaganu. She studied in Ekal vidyalaya Kahu from 2013 to 2017, under Acharya Reva Sunwaria.
Reach to Teach
Four high school students, Shri Samarth Kadaba, Shri Ajay Bhargava, Shri Paranshu Shah, Shri Sarthak Parikh, from Los Angeles and Chicago embarked on an EKAL Vanayatra to the Karanjo GRC in Jharkhand, India from December 21th to December 30th 2019. They felt the children and teachers of Ekal has unbelievable energy, motivation, and will to learn and succeed.This report presents the experiences and stories from their trip.
Learning by doing at Ekal
Bringing a worldwide change isn’t done with just one person; it has to involve everyone. In order to involve more people in the efforts to help the environment, it’s important to get younger generations involved in the effort. By fostering a concern for the environment, parents can raise children who will be more aware of environmental issues. Though schools will teach a bit about environmental sustainability, the real work starts much earlier at EKAL.
By educating the children with good habits like recycling and instilling environmental values at young age, the children appreciate nature. Children are our future, so it’s important to teach them about environmental issues so they can continue to help create change together. Ekal does just that.
Flood relief by Ekal, Jonai
Rakhi band from Ekal villages
FTS Kolkata join hands with Ladies Circle for Ekal
Ekal Yuva, Indore distribute masks
Ekal Yuva distributes PPEs
