DESI DIARY

TCF CELEBRATES 37 YEARS OF GIVING

The Toronto-Calcutta Foundation’s fundraising gala raised over $75,000 last month.

The Toronto-Calcutta Foundation (TCF) hosted a vibrant and inspiring fundraising gala on November 14 at the Woodbine Banquet Hall, marking 37 years of humanitarian service.

The evening celebrated TCF’s ongoing efforts to uplift underprivileged women and children in Rajasthan and West Bengal.

This year’s theme, One Thread, Many Communities, One World reflected gala guests from many different communities.

The evening was hosted by Papia Dutta, TCF’s secretary. Manjurika Das, a TCF Director, showed a series of touching videos recorded by students from six TCF Education Centres and women from two TCF Vocational Training Centres to showcase how TCF is changing lives.

Grade 5 student Naysa Bhattacharjee Das proudly sang both the Canadian and Indian national anthems. Sisters Aarya (10) and Geet Mishra (16) followed with peppy English songs.

Singer Pavani Sangapallar charmed the audience with old Bollywood songs, singing with a sweet and warm voice. Popular GTA dancer Ragamalika Mohanraj, an IT engineer who is also passionate about Indian classical dance, performed Bharatanatyam and Odissi. Her graceful dancing left guests amazed.

The program ended with a lovely performance by flautist Saptak Bhadra and tabla player Rigved Deshpande. Their classical Indian music brought great joy to the audience.

Throughout the night, guests also watched videos of TCF’s work and took part in exciting door prize draws.

The event was a big success, raising over $75,000 for TCF’s programs. Since TCF is run completely by volunteers, 95% of the money raised will go directly to helping women and children in need.

It was an evening full of kindness and community – a true celebration of giving.