Warm wishes and hopes that your New Year has been off to a good start from everyone at SOFKIN! As we look towards 2017, we are so grateful for the many people who have supported SOFKIN over the past year.
27-Jan-17
Many thanks also to those who’ve made contributions for ongoing operational expenses during the past year, including supporters of SOFKIN-Rhythm 2016, our annual fundraising event in June. Smiles R Us continues to be a wonderful supporter of SOFKIN. We are fortunate to have longstanding support from such a great group. Through their efforts they have raised over $20,000 at just one of their events. We can’t thank them enough for their generosity.
The children of SOFKIN participated in several interfaith celebrations over the past year, in keeping with SOFKIN’s commitment to honor all faith traditions. School is also going well for everyone, with many children excelling at their studies and extracurricular activities. The children will be performing at Maher’s 20th Anniversary Celebration in Pune while Chaya is visiting.
Our heartfelt thanks go out to the Project Aashiyana sponsors, who’ve made donations for the construction of the two new buildings, and our child sponsors, who are covering the living expenses for 15 of the 50 children. To learn more about Aashiyana and sponsorships, you can check our website.
We are excited to report that we have are close to our $350,000 fundraising goal for the new building. A recent “Bob Proctor – Modern Day Millionaire” seminar helped get us close to the top. It was a wonderful affirmation of the power of SOFKIN’s story – and asking for what is needed from a place of passion and conviction.
Two young people from Maher, SOFKIN’s sister organization in Pune, India, recently completed a two-month internship at PamTen. (PamTen is the IT Enterprise, Staffing and Solutions company headquartered in New Jersey, of which Chaya is a co-founder and President & CEO.) Gaus Sayyad and Mangesh Pol are both recent college graduates, with Gaus also having earned his MBA. While at PamTen, they received professional training in how to work in a corporate environment, including how the culture of an organization impacts performance. They, in turn, contributed energy, enthusiasm, and a commitment to make the most of this opportunity. Many PamTen employees commented on their great intellectual curiosity about what they were learning, hard work and always upbeat attitude, and look forward to having them return.
Construction of the new building is progressing well, with excavation for the foundation almost complete. Chaya will have the opportunity to check on the next phase of construction in person when she travels to India in late January. Stay tuned for more news on fundraising and construction progress!
It’s going to be an exciting year!