Pratham Holiday Luncheon Raises $120,000 for Education

Pratham Houston held its annual holiday luncheon fundraiser at the Junior League of Houston, in a hall decorated with colorful blooms and filled to capacity with Pratham supporters dressed in their festive best. Saks Fifth Avenue provided free makeover sessions before the event, and an elegant fashion show as well as several generous door prizes after lunch. The luncheon was co-chaired by Annu Naik and Anuja Mehta. Sapna Singh was the MC. Brij Kathuria,  Board Member and Treasurer, provided valuable support with the entire event.

Swatantra Jain, President, Pratham Houston, shared some of Pratham’s recent achievements with the guests. The facts and figures were truly impressive. Last year over 2.6 million children in India bettered their education through Pratham’s various programs. 54,000 youth gained vocational skills that enabled them to enter the workforce, and 48,000 teachers were trained to teach more effectively. Pratham is always expanding to meet new needs, and one of its exciting new initiatives is providing micro financing so that youth can be trained and then start their own small businesses.

Jain shared some heartwarming stories of success by the youth that Pratham has sponsored.

The Houston Chapter, which is one of the most active in the U.S., raised $1.6 million last year, thanks to its staunch donors. This money is helping around 70,000 at-risk children. Pratham is always expanding to meet new needs, and one of its exciting new initiatives is providing micro financing so that youth can be trained and then start their own small businesses.

Jain was followed by the keynote speaker, David Weekly of David Weekly Homes. Weekly, a generous supporter of Pratham who donates half of his income each year to charity, gave a powerful inspirational speech where he listed why he has chosen Pratham as one of his beneficiaries. It is because of Pratham’s dedicated leadership, strong history of success, transparent governance and the clear metrics by which they measure their outcomes. Weekly ended by urging the listeners to open our hearts, be grateful for all that we have been blessed with, realize that we have a responsibility to the world, and experience first-hand the joy of giving.

The audience also had the opportunity to watch and hear, via video, Pratham’s co-founder Madhav Chavan receive the prestigious WISE award, which is similar to the Nobel prize, and deliver his acceptance speech. Chavan’s dedication to Pratham shone through his words. He has, since then, donated the $500,000 award in its entirety to Pratham.

Pratham raised $120,000 at this event and thanks its generous donors and volunteers without whom this would not have been possible.

To learn more about Pratham, or to support this great cause, visit www.prathamusa.org.

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