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		Periodical News-update for Lily Wellwishers 2014 Issue 2
	Send your donation gift to: Lily Foundation, PO Box 59824, Dallas, TX 75229 or, in India to: The Lily Foundation, 42/12 NSC Bose Rd, PO Regent Park, Kolkata- 700 040				My Sponsoring Options
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Xth Annual Education Conference


					The Xth Annual Education Conference was held at Sujata Devi Smriti Sadan on Hazra Road, Kolkata on 9th February. Students, Teachers and invitees filled the hall of 300 seats. Swami Sarvadevananda of Hollywood, California adored the position of Chief Guest. He eloquently relayed the messages of Swami Vivekananda, asking the students to engage themselves in some form of beneficial act (janaseva) for others, however small that might be. Dr. Amal Mukherjee, Director of Lily Foundation and Mrs. Keya Mukherjee, President of The Lily Foundation, India were the other honored guests. Prasad Sarkar presented the current state of affairs at Lily Foundation with an impresive list of projects that would be launched shortly. The student speakers were from the SMILE scholars group around the country. The prestigious Pride-of-Lily award went to Kumari Sakshi Singh from Jaunpur, UP. Several other prizes for performance as well as encouragement were awarded. Some of these were SMILE-High Achievement awards for scholarship graduates and AALO Ratna awards for the best homes in all three AALO Home groups. A new set of awards, named Reba Basu Smriti Puraskar, was introduced for the students who had been star performers in AALO homes. The Dhulai Dishari group presented a small drama at the end, addressing a social issue. The next (XIth) annual conference was announced to be held at Ghatsila in December 2014.

New Projects...



	Shyamaprasad Jatiya Vidyalaya Computer Center [CC #7]
	Shyamaprasad Jatiya Vidyalaya Lily Foundation Computer Center was inaugurated on 12th February 2014 in Bandel, reachable from Howrah in about 1 hour by train. Amal Mukherjee, Director, unveiled the stone tablet of the center. Other representatives present at the event were President Mrs. Keya Mukherjee, Director Prasad Sarkar, Headmaster Mr. Arun Chakraborty and Advisor Mr. Kalyan Mukherjee. The center, which teaches Basic and Advance office applications, is currently enrolled with 300+ students. Thanks to Mr. Sunandan Sen and Mrs. Nargis Chawla of New York for sponsorship.


	Asanbani High School Coaching Home AALO-36

						Asanbani is a small village near Amdanga in Bankura, and is accesible by train in about 3 hours from Howrah. A newly built primary school building hosts the coaching center where high school students from Simlapal, Amdanga, Kuchiapara and other villages can get the benefits of special coaching in Math and English for the borderline students. Vivekananda Seva Samity is the monitoring authority for this center.
	Jagadish Chandra High School Coaching Home AALO-37

	This is the second High School Coaching Home in the school premises. The first one (shown on right) has been running since November 2011 under the sponsorship of SRAI (Society for Rural Assistance in India) of California. Twenty five Students are to get regular coaching in Math & English.
	Ghatsila Bookbank [BB#4]
	The bookbank at the JC High School premises was inaugurated by alumnus Jogeswari Prasad Sarkar on 18th February, 2014. School students presented an attractive show at Asha Auditorium. Swami Natarajananda of Ghatsila Ramakrishna Math spoke of the utility of this boobank to all local students. Headmistress Ms. Chaitali Nath is excited about the prospects of help to teachers as well. Historically the high school has cooperated with excellence and enthusiasm. Lily Foundation is running here a highly successful computer center where over 1000 students take lessons and a High School Coaching Home.

Spelling Bee 2014 spells another year of success

Lily Foundation USA conducted Spelling Bee contest on March 23 at Eye Level Plano North. The event has aroused a consciousness in the Dallas-Fort Worth Indian community about the need of exposure to the kids. The parents also took an active part during the contest and some became Lily volunteers.

The educationalists and business professional judges had a tough time keeping up with the intellect and IQ of the competing kids. Every participant received a Certificate of Participation. Three winners in each of the four final categories received trophies. Local high school volunteers helped with the preparation of the event and participated as scorers during the event. The event was covered by Dallas Morning News and Channel 8.

The winners were:

Groups	Grades	Winner	Runner-up	2^nd Runner-up
Group 1	First Grade and under	Vasudha Vembar	Prathinav Chunduru	Suhani Gupta
Group 2	2^nd and 3^rd Grade	Anubroto Saha	Akash Jape	Syon Kundu
Group 3	4^th and 5^th Grade	Thejaswini Vember	Nairit Sarkar	Dave Banerjee
Group 4	6^th, 7^th and 8^th Grade	Yogita Manikandan	Rohan Nagabhirava	Harshit Chowdhury

The Judges belonging to various academic & professional fields boosted the energy and morale of the kids in addition to making it a fair competition for the kids who were participating in a spelling bee for the first time. Refreshments were provided to each & every participant during the Prelims and Finals

Announcements.........


	Dinner Save-the-Date			Feed-the Needy			Shantatmanandaji Maharaj to Speak
	The new FunAsia center (Park Plaza Tower) will host the 2014 Annual Dinner. An exciting view around the venue promises to captivate the participants this year. Please mark your calendar. We look forward to your continued patronage to support Lily for its cause. 6th September 2014 6:00 PM			Following the Lily Foundation tradition we would be hosting a homeless feeding program to serve the community on Mother's Day at Union Gospel Mission, Fort Worth: a fun cooking and treating event not to be missed by volunteers and their families! 11th May 2014 9:00 AM
							Swami Vivekananda's Karma Yoga is the inspiration of the Lily volunteers. Swami Shantatmanandaji will speak on the subject, 'Secret of Selfless Service' at Dallas North Texas Hindu Mandir.at 10309 Barrone Circle, Dallas, TX 75218. He is the Minister-in-charge at Delhi Ramakrishna Mission. Dinner will be served. 2nd May 2014 7:00 PM

You Support We Survive [Sponsorship Revised ]


			Lily Foundation sponsorship opportunities remain as attractive as ever. With a very small contribution you can not only sponsor a home, a student, a project or a center, you get an annual progress report to judge how your money has worked. Your name is displayed prominently on a banner at the site. Based on the annual budget, we revise the sponsorship contribution rate from time to time - minimally. In the past two years, India has seen hefty increase in the overall inflation rate. The teacher salaries and the overhead cost are impacted by the steep rise in prices. In Dallas, our overhead is near-zero as the volunteers work free without being reimbursed for transportation or in-kind contribution, and the office space and utility are fully donated. Our scholarship students need an upward adjustment in their awards to meet the increased cost of tuition, books, transportation and clothing. The staff (teachers, office and fileld personnel) compensation needs similar adjustment. The special event costs (such as medical camps, seminars and conferences, SMILE fairs) all require the same treatment. Under these difficult circumstances, it is incumbent for us to be viable that we revise the sponsorship rate across the board. It won't be out of place to mention that our SMILE scholarship rate revision is in fact the first in the last 12 years, making the annual sponsorship contribution now to $200 (instead of $180) a year. We sincerely expect that you will realize our situation. Your whole hearted contribution is what we appeal for.
	Dear Friends, Your support is the key to Lily's survival. And, as we survive we deliver promise to those who strive to rescue themselves from ages of darkness due to poverty. After all, where can you channel your support directly to your choice recepient group? Let us work together to help those unfortunate children. Please send the gift card today (link below). http://lilyfoundation.org/pledgeallin1.htm Lily Foundation

We fondly remember our co-founder

Dr. Sauri Pada Bhattacharya left all earthly bondages a few months ago. Remembrances and memorial services were held in Ekta Mandir on December 22, 2013 [unfortunately I, prasad, could not attend as I was out of country].

Among us friends, he was very popular. His knowledge of international state of affairs did attract many of us, who always vied to sit close to him in a gathering. Be it Russia or Azarbizan, his vivid image of the culture and geography must impress any listener.

Saurida's association with Lily Foundation dates back before the foundation was born. When we organized homeless feeding in Union Gospel Mission, Saurida would sit by our side in a car and go from one homeless group to another on the streets, just to invite them with a personal touch to come join our hot lunch. And they listened.

When Lily Foundation was formed, Saurida suggested that we adopt a hymn or a prayer, which we would recite before the start of any meeting. He even opted to author a prayer for us. It never happened. In the later years, although Saurida did not attend meetings he would definitely contribute to Lily from his pension and from time to time would make inquiry about its wellbeing.

We will miss Saurida.

Lost Eyesight Regained


	Narrah Eye Camp

	Back-to-back after Dhulai, Narrah, a village close to the town of Bankura, holds this year's first Eye Camp on 30th January, where 285 patients were examined and 222 pairs of free eye glasses were distributed. Dr. Gaurab Ganguly assisted by Mr. Pradip Das worked tirelessly testing the patients. Volunteers at the Narrah Panchayat Community Hall were Aloke Malla, Pampa Sutradhar, Sumanta Das, Shantana dey and Priyanka Das besides our own Lily Foundation teaching staff. The camp was organized with co-sponsorship from Toronto-Calcutta Foundation.

Scholarship Season Begins


		The annual scholarship season begins in May. This year we expect awards will be handed out in higher numbers than any of the previous years. Why? First, the name and fame of our foundation has been spreading through many means, the primary one being the West Bengal Government's official notifications where Lily Foundation occupies a place. Then, we ourselves are holding fairs, called SMILE Fairs, in high school premises and in our own centers located in 8 different towns/villages. Student-applications have started streaming in from Karnataka and West Bengal. Other states are soon to follow this trend. Deserving students from high schools and colleges are coming forward with their leadership credentials in schools and community. It is hard to turn down any applicant, as our past experiences guide us. We do not discriminate any student on the basis of their origin, caste, creed or gender. Our readers, your whole-hearted support is very needed at this point. If you know anyone who deserves scholarship, please ask him/her to download a form from the web and apply. Or, let them call 817-294-5536 for assistance. We seek applicants from other states (than our usual states of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka). If you ever thought of sponsoring a high school or a college student, then please do it now as this is the best time to find a very deserving student of your choice (your town, state, school). The annual cost of sponsorship is just $200 for high school students and $400 for professional college students. Click below for a gift form: http://lilyfoundation.org/pledgesmile.htm

Board of Directors elected for 2014-2015


	Congratulations!
	President Amal Mukherjee 214-351-1231 Vice President Sraboni Lahiry 972-517-8878 Secretary Srijata Choudhury 469-865-6560 Treasurer Prasad Sarkar 817-294-5536			Director Basab Chatterjee 972-747-9191 Director Anirudh Maitra 972-248-0778 Director Tuhin Chatterjee 214-566-5363


Former President Sandhyamalati Chatterjee hands more prizes to Pride-of-Lily Sakshi Singh	Amdanga Computer Center teacher speaks at the Xth Annual Conference

At Shyamaprasad Jatiya Vidyalaya Lily Foundation Computer Center, the curious young eyes at the inauguration function	At Ranidiha picnic, the Dhulai and Narrah students and teachers participate

Drama scene at the Xth AnnCon	A drama scene from the Xth Annual Education Conference

2014 Spelling Bee Volunteers	A tableau on cancer conciousness roamed Kolkata. Lily Foundation was one sponsor.

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Lily Foundation is a tax-exempt organization under Internal Revenue Code 501(c )(3). Download, print & mail GIFT

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