Our first-ever NYC fundraiser - Oct 9! See you there!

Please join us for our first-even New York City fundraiser, to be held at the George Billis Gallery (525 W. 26th Street, Ground Floor) on October 9.

Also please see the auction items related to the fundraiser here:

NYC Fundraiser Silent Auction

You can bid on these even if you can't attend our event.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you on October 9!

Education! Thank you Yahoo! Employee Foundation

Operation Shanti expresses its sincere appreciation to the Yahoo! Employee Foundation for their grant of $5,000 for educational purposes for our children at Karunya Mane for the 2013-2014 school year.

From the Yahoo! website: "The Yahoo! Employee Foundation (YEF) is a grassroots, philanthropic organization that brings together the talents, time, and financial resources of Yahoo! employees to serve the needs of communities around the globe. YEF is a unique foundation, as it is employee run, employee driven and employee funded."

Vinutha, Jyothi, Lalitha, Sowmya

We focus on giving our kids an excellent education by:

- using only quality private schools that are open-minded and supportive

Raju

- engaging eleven after-school teachers to provide tutoring every day for two hours after school, including one-on-one tutoring to our special needs child and two-on-one tutoring for two of our girls who need extra attention

Shashidhar Sir tutors the 5th standard kids

Prema, former street girl who requires two hearing aids, studies well today in 7th grade under the
guidance of her tutor, Jyothi Miss, who teaches all of our 7th graders

- providing a nice on-site library

- ensuring that the kids eat properly (minimum sugar, maximum healthy grains and protein) and take their vitamins

Older girls, school dance program

- giving them support for extracurricular activities, such as sports, arts and crafts, school projects, and cultural activities

Operation Shanti extends special thanks to our Yahoo! employee champion, Amaree Tanawong!

Selected photos courtesy of our dear friend Janea Wiedmann.

UK donors (and potential donors)! This is for you!

We're pleased to announce that our UK donors may now 

receive tax deductions when donating to Operation Shanti! 

Here's a letter that we're sending out to our UK donors.

Dear Friend of Operation Shanti,

Thank you for your continued support of Operation Shanti.

We want to let you know that we have a new channel for UK donors to make donations and receive tax benefits. You can be a part of our monthly donation program, by using the GiveIndia donation website.

UK donors may now receive tax deductions when donating to Operation Shanti! Just donate through GiveIndia to Operation Shanti (listed under our Indian charity's name, Akhanda Seva for International Shanti), either one-time or on a recurring monthly basis. 

Visit our online donation page on GiveIndia and make a donation:

UK donors for Operation Shanti

You can choose to make monthly donations through Google Wallet (Google Checkout) or by using your credit card.

Once again, thank you for your continued support!

Peace,

The Operation Shanti Team

Thanks from the kids

The kids wanted to say "thanks" to Garth and all of his students and friends for the fabulous fundraiser in Hermosa Beach on April 28th --

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwdgqYf8Nl8

Garth Number Five (wow!) - in One Week!

Garth Hewitt and his students and volunteers are back for his fifth yogathon fundraiser to help us build a new home for our kids!

If you are in the Los Angeles area, please participate: Los Angeles Rocks Operation Shanti

Even if you are not in the Los Angeles area, please participate: Los Angeles Rocks Operation Shanti

Enjoy the great asana practice, as well prizes and free gifts from fabulous sponsors!

There are many things to be grateful for, and we are most certainly grateful to Garth and his team's karma yoga efforts! Om nama shivaya.

The UK Bash Raises $$

Many thanks to Matt Ryan and his friends in the UK for raising a nice sum of money for our kids and programs in Mysore!

Two cool dudes -- Matt Ryan, friend of the kids, and Johnny Marr, from the Smiths

Garth's Third Fundraiser

He did it again! Garth Hewitt and his team raised over $10,000 for us at their third LA Rocks! Operation Shanti event.

Garth and his team

The event was held at the Boys and Girls Club of Venice on September 17, and a ton of dedicated yoga practitioners came to help our kids and enjoy a nice practice.

The group

Entertainment

Asana time

Thanks again to Garth and his friends for the support -- a new home will be a great way to give the kids we help, and the many more that we could help, a chance for a new life.

DEAF JAM fundraiser for Operation Shanti in the UK

If you're in Manchester in the UK, or anywhere in the vicinity on December 18, feel free to drop in on a fundraiser being held for Operation Shanti. See the posters below for more information -- it looks to be an amazing musical event!

See them on FB: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=180316298720384

Garth and the Fundraisers

Thanks again to Garth Hewitt and his amazing efforts to raise funds for our kids! The June event raised over $9,000 and you can get more information here on the upcoming September event.

Take a look at a few pics from the June event:

Garth and a young supporter

A full crowd...!

Amazing volunteers and helpers

Los Angeles Rocks! Operation Shanti

One of our yoga teacher friends based in Los Angeles has organized a series of fundraisers for Operation Shanti, to help us build a new orphanage in Mysore. The first event was held on the Spring Equinox on March 19, and two remaining events will be held on June 18 (Summer Solstice) and September 17 (Fall Equinox).

Please see the following newsletter for more on Garth Hewitt and his generous efforts to help the kids of Mysore.

High school friends in the UK

Thanks to Bronte and friends at Stamford High School in Stamford in the UK, who have been raising funds for our kids. We recently received a note from them, as well as a photo of the teens who are fundraising for us:

When I came out in summer to visit you with my mum and brother I really felt like making a difference back home after having such a lovely time with all the kids that are staying with you. I told my class about what I'd been up to, and they were all really up for making a difference too. So my form and I by organising a cake sale raised the money to buy 27 boxes of vitamins for the orphanage, some of which we've already sent you. We're all very keen to help Operation Shanti, and as we have a charity money making machine on our hands (our school likes buying cake!!), we wanted to know if there was anything other than vitamin tablets that we can buy using the funds or you can buy that we can start to raise some money for.

I've attached a picture of most of us - the piece of paper I'm holding reads "Stamford High School loves Operation Shanti", unfortunately it didn't come out very well!

Best wishes,

Bronte Philips and 11CW

Thanks so much to Bronte and everyone at Stamford High School for your continuing support!

Our GiveIndia Listing for Indian Donors

If you reside in India and would like to make a safe and secure online donation to our organization, please see the following link:

http://www.giveindia.org/m-969-akhanda-seva-for-international-shanti-operation-shanti.aspx

GiveIndia is an NGO in India that helps other NGOs raise funds for the poorest of the poor in India by helping its users donate money to trustworthy charities. Charities undergo a rigorous due diligence process before being listed on the GiveIndia site.

Vinod, Devaraj, Kaleem, and Sharath picking turnips from our garden.

Thanks to Dr. Ben Kim and his readers...

... for raising enough money to help us purchase a van for Karunya Mane. The van will come in handy in taking our 3- and 4-year-olds to nursery school when it rains, to pick up food rations in bulk, and for many other practical uses around the shelter.

As with many similar vehicles in India, the van runs on liquid propane gas, which is cleaner and a lot cheaper than gasoline.

Thanks again to Dr. Ben Kim and his readers at www.drbenkim.com!

Operation Shanti and the India Giving Challenge

Beginning on September 1, residents of India can donate to us through the web page below, as part of the GiveIndia India Giving Challenge. The fundraising effort runs from September 1 to October 10.

http://www.giveindia.org/give/pledgepage/operationshanti

Please send this link above to everyone that you know in India, or anyone who may know someone in India, such as colleagues at offices in India, who may be interested in donating to our cause.

The charities raising the most money or who have the highest number of unique donors will receive matching donations from GiveIndia, as follows:

Matching limit	Top Three Corporates by Funds Raised	Top Three NGOs by Funds Raised	Top Three Corporates by Number of Unique Donors	Top Three NGOs by Number of Unique Donors
First	Rs. 10 lacs	Rs. 8 lacs	Rs. 2.5 lacs	Rs. 2.5 lacs
Second	Rs. 6 lacs	Rs. 4 lacs	Rs. 1.5 lacs	Rs. 1.5 lacs
Third	Rs. 4 lacs	Rs. 3 lacs	Rs. 1 lac	Rs 1 lac
(Note: 1 lac ≈ US$2,000)

GiveIndia will match on a one-for-one basis the funds raised by the top charities.

If you're not a resident of India, you can still contribute to our efforts here.

Thanks!

Fundraiser in Gokulam

If you're in Mysore, please join us for a fabulous fundraiser dinner sponsored by Anu's Bamboo Hut! Friday, September 4, at 6:00pm. And meet a few of our cute kids who will be attending.

(click on the link for a larger view)

Charity Yoga Event in Los Angeles for Operation Shanti

If you are in the LA area, please click on the following image for details on how to participate in a charity yoga event for our kids, held by Garth Hewitt.

The events include a raffle for great prizes from excellent corporate sponsors, an art auction, and an exhibition of Garth's photographs from India.

Online in Finland

Thanks to our friend Satu for writing about us on a travel blog in Finland:

http://blog.travelstart.fi/2009/05/apua-intian-katulapsille.html

(Google translate does a decent job translating from Finnish to English...)

Vishnu, Vinuta, Imran, Darshan, Jyothi

More creative fundraising

We sure do like when we get emails telling us about the support that people are showing our kids and moms, especially during these difficult times. Messages like this show us that people are doing what they can to continue to help our kids and moms.

Recently, Sylvie wrote that she showed the movie Y Yoga at her yoga studio, and during the evening raised US$120 for Operation Shanti.

During these tough times, people do want to give to good causes, it's just a little harder to do. And these creatively sourced, extremely valued donations go a long way. For example, US$120 will pay for two of our after-school teachers (covering 12 of our kids) for an entire month.

Creative fundraising

Recently, an Operation Shanti friend told us about her effort to do some fundraising for us in today's tough economic environment. We found her idea creative and personal to her, and wanted to share it with you.

From Jules:

I learned of Operation Shanti when I was in Mysore this past year. And held on to a desire to be connected to the mission.

In NY, I teach several forms or yoga at a beautiful studio called The Yoga Room (www.the-yoga-room.com). Prenatal yoga among them. For some time, I've been trying to encourage my Prenatal Yoga students to develop a simple home practice in the form of a simple sequence called cat/cow, which is very beneficial for most pregnant women. But I had little impact in effecting this.

Then, two weeks ago I conceived of this plan: I committed a dollar to Operation Shanti for each time a pregnant woman in my class practiced cat/cow in between the times I saw them. I told them of the mission of Operation Shanti -- and how far a dollar can go in clothing, feeding and educating a child in India. Well! We have had 42 'instances' of cat/cow home practice in a little over two weeks! When I hit 50 instances ($50 dollars) I'll go contribute thru your website. I expect that will be this weekend.

I'm thrilled with the success of this new program, and plan to seek corporate sponsorship so I might continue it. If any of your staff has connections with anyone at magazines such as Fit Pregnancy or (dreaming big) a contact at Oprah's O magazine or the like, an intro would be stellar and mutually beneficial! I'll be reaching out to a broad network seeking just such introductions as well.

If anyone there would like to discuss this program with me, I would be happy to hear from you.

Thank you for the inspiration and all you are doing.

Peace & joy - Jules

She's starting small, thinking big, and being persistent. And we get "personalized" support like this in both big and small ways. Recently, Kendra and Ryan arrived from San Francisco to volunteer at Karunya Mane. While in San Francisco, they took the initiative to hold a fundraiser and collected art supplies, kids' clothing, and other useful items for our kids at Karunya Mane. Every little bit counts, and our kids and moms really appreciate any effort that you make--especially when it is related to something personal to you.

And by the way, the cat/cow $50 translates into about 2400 rupees, enough to feed our kids three healthy meals for three whole days. Or, it can be used to provide protein powder to an anorexic and destitute street woman for eight months.

Thanks!