Posted on Oct 31, 2015 in
FEATURES
Ek Disha board members Geeta Anand, Sippi Khurana, Farida Abjani, Gopal Sen, Rick Pal, Swati Narayan, Raj Patel, Jyoti Malhan and Irum Javeed celebrated a sold-out fundraising event at House of Blues.
When Fort Bend residents gather for a great cause, they take things to the maximum level. With a sold-out crowd of 300 people and several partners and sponsors assisting, Ek Disha hosted a September 18th event at House of Blues to raise funds for humanitarian projects.
Fort Bend resident Rick Pal founded Ek Disha in 2005, and the organization has grown tremendously since. It is guided by a simple and inspiring philosophy: recognition and resolution of basic human needs.
“There were a lot of charitable organizations out there, but they were having a difficult time, and I would see them fall through the cracks,” said Pal. “I began Ek Disha to collaborate with other non-profit organizations and to scale up.” Pal also noticed that there were underrepresented causes that needed support, and Ek Disha chose to give these organizations grants. This worked well for all parties. The growth of Ek Disha is due to the volunteers, board members, sponsors and many corporations and individuals working together.
Ek Disha means “a focus.” The organization partners with small to mid-size, non-governmental organizations to fund, monitor and mentor projects that address important social and economic issues and benefit a diverse set of communities. “As a board, we look for impact, transparency, sustainability and measurable results, as we give 100 percent of our proceeds to projects,” said Geeta Anand, board member.
Many supporters of Ek Disha support many other organizations in Fort Bend and see the value of giving. Ek Disha also works with other Fort Bend and Houston charitable organizations such as Lunches of Love and Search Homeless, as well as relief drives for natural disasters such as the recent Oklahoma hurricane, Nepal flooding and Philippine typhoons.
“Our mission is to support and facilitate humanitarian projects in the areas of education, enterprise and health,” said Swati Narayan, board chair. “The funds we raise go a long way as we collaborate with others who support the projects, and much of the work being done by Ek Disha is through volunteers.” One of Ek Disha’s goals is to break the cycle of poverty through education. When people have basic life and literacy skills, economies grow more quickly and poverty rates decline. Supporting education initiatives creates an environment that leads to opportunities and education for successive generations as well.
Cynthia Koenig with the Wello WaterWheel, an invention which that assists families in developing countries.
Another goal is strengthening health equity and tackling negative social determinants, as they are essential for a country’s economic progress. A third goal is enterprise. Combining the heart of business with the heart of the community through the creativity of an individual or an organization fosters social enterprise. This creates jobs, increases productivity and improves quality of life.
Some of the funds raised by Ek Disha are for projects such as Wello WaterWheel, which provides water wheels to families to access, transport and store clean water more efficiently, allowing girls to stay in school who are normally responsible for bringing water. Another project is Bachpan Bachao Aandolan, which provides education in rural India against bonded child labor. A third project is Search Homeless, which provides living necessities to furnish single residence housing in Texas.
Wello WaterWheel was created by Founder and CEO Cynthia Koenig, an American who studied International Development and wanted to make a difference in developing countries. Koenig created the Wello WaterWheel because she wanted “a product that was incredibly affordable and widely accepted.”
This will be a good Thanksgiving for many due to the efforts of Ek Disha as it strives to improve lives by identifying and prioritizing high-impact projects and donating 100 percent of the funds collected from individuals. Pal mentioned the organization engages actively with donor organizations and their management.
For more information, to volunteer or to donate to Ek Disha, email info@ekdisha.org or visit www.ekdisha.org.
To share your ideas for upcoming cultural stories and events, contact Cultural Correspondent Zeenat Kassam Mitha at zeenat@absolutelyfocusmedia.com
