AIM for SEVA Canada gala: Bollywood stars, singer Jonita Gandhi, comedian Atul Khatri, and Indian sports stars P.V. Sindhu and Deepa Malik regale audiences at the charity’s virtual annual gala 2020
The Canadian Bazaar
TORONTO: As the Corona pandemic takes its toll on India’s poor, the Canadian branch of the Indian charity AIM for SEVA – which builds and runs educational hostels in rural areas – raised more than $550,000 through individual donations to rush the money to India.
Anupam Kher, Preity Zinta, Bollywood singer Jonita Gandhi, comedian Atul Khatri, and sports stars P.V. Sindhu and Deepa Malik joined the Indo-Canadian community at the charity’s virtual gala to raise money for India’s poor kids.
“We raised more than $2.1 million at our 2019 gala. We are happy to raise this much money this week despite Corona restrictions,” said AIM for SEVA (Canada) president Terry Papneja who is one of the biggest Indian-origin dentists in Canada.
The charity has so far raised over $9.3 million for building educational hostels in rural areas of India to house, feed and educate children from poor families.
It has so far built 27 hostels in different states of India.
“At AIM for SEVA hostels built by us with donations from Indo-Canadians, we are taking care of over 4,000 children — from the age of eight to 18 — on an on-going basis. For full 10 years, these kids are given free accommodation, food, clothing and education so that their families get out the cycle of poverty. We also cover all their other expenses,’’ said Dr Papneja who comes from Kareli town in Madhya Pradesh.
Each hostel costs about $290,000 to build and most donors sponsor hostels in the areas of India where they come from, he said.
“Having done well in Canada, most Indians want to give back to their mother country. Toronto businessman Inder Sharma donated two million dollars last year. We are very happy with the response,” said Dr Papneja.
Apart from donations to build hostels, Indo-Canadians also give scholarships to kids at these hostels.
“This week, a lady donated $150,000 in scholarships for 10 years. Last year, Toronto couple Neelam and Kris Shah gave scholarships worth $100,000 to 20 kids,” according to Dr Papneja.
AIM for SEVA opened its second Canadian chapter in Montreal last year and plans to reach Vancouver and Calgary in the coming years.
