Clear Lake Youth Donate to Charity

CLEAR LAKE: At its annual Diwali Program celebrating the Indian New Year, ICCL had grand program spanning over 4 hours with numerous cultural items representing the diverse culture of India. It was attended by more than 500 plus community members. The program ended with a sumptuous dinner. The highlight of the program was the India Culture Center of Clear Lake (ICCL) Youth Committee Officers’ hard work in raising funds for non-profit outreach programs both in the USA and abroad.

 ICCL Youth Committee (YC) members, supported by both the ICCL Executive committee (EC) lead by President Sonal Singh, Vice President Yasmin Udawala – who was also a youth committee liaison, and the parents of those Youth, worked really hard to raise and donate funds to its two preferred charities. The ICCL Youth Committee, comprised of 10 high school students, set a goal at the beginning of the year to raise $1,000 for charity. The team worked together all year coordinating various fundraisers and helping to plan numerous cultural festivals. Fundraising events included the youth car wash, social, and t-shirt sales. As a result of all of their hard work, the Youth Committee considerably exceeded their goal, having raised a total of $1,850 for charity. This money was donated to two charities – Bay Area Turning Point and the Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation. Bay Area Turning Point is a local organization dedicated to helping survivors of domestic violence and facilitating change within local communities. The Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation is an organization dedicated to education assistance and village development in rural communities of India. Representative Ashley Woodard from Bay Area Turning Point and Nikhil Mehta from Ekal Vidyalaya were there to receive the checks on behalf of their respective organizations. Local Congressman Steve Stockman of District 36 was also present along with his wife and the principal of Clear View High School Michael Houston to support the local community.

When asked why the ICCL YC chose these two non-profit outreach organizations, the president of Youth Club of ICCL, Kushal Kadakia, responded on behalf of the committee and said that “they wanted to give back to their community on a local level as well as on a cultural level. Both organizations are aimed towards the kids & youth themselves – Bay Area Turning Point helps children recover from abusive families, and puts them back on the right track to avoid violence and focus on education and change. Ekal Vidyalaya assists in educational outreach in rural Indian communities, and provides opportunities to under-developed areas to really ameliorate their quality of life.” He further said “We often take it for granted the education we receive and the opportunities we have; thus, when we decided to raise money for charity, we wanted to be able to make a difference for the kids in our community, as well as abroad (our homeland), and subsequently selected these two organizations as our preferred charities. We strongly believe in the approaches which both organizations take regarding their missions, and it’s our hope that more youth will become aware of the problems in both their local communities as well as back in India and take action to try to improve the lives of others.”

ICCL is a nonprofit organization with nearly a thousand member families in the Greater Houston Area. ICCL organizes at least four major events per year, Holi with Sports day, High School Senior Graduation, Navaratri, and Diwali. This year each event was a huge success due to the hard work and dedication of executive committee members and support of the Clear Lake Indian community.

In addition to the fundraising efforts, the Youth Committee also led a canned food drive, collecting a quarter ton of food for the Clear Lake Food Pantry, and participated in a community outreach program at Park Manor Nursing Home. Their work this year in putting together multiple fundraisers and Youth Committee led community events was unprecedented, and has set the stage for future generations to take part in wider community engagement.

For further deatils on ICCL visit their website at www.iccclearlake.org.