Midwest Asian American Center Commemorates Fundraising Dinner

Chicago IL: Midwest Asian American Center or MAAC celebrated its Annual fundraising dinner on Saturday, October 29th, 2011 at India House Banquet Hall, 1521 W. Schaumburg Road, Schaumburg, Illinois,60194.

A delicious buffet dinner with non-vegetarian and vegetarian options allowed for a palate of delicious food. There was a cash bar that was open at 6:30 P.M. and the program started at 8:00 P.M. The MAAC board of directors invited the people to support MAAC on its educational, cultural and social work by attending and sponsoring its fundraising dinner and cultural evening. Entertainment was provided by the Jesse White Tumblers and R K Dance Academy. There were 250 plus people who attended to celebrate the event.

The event began with a Welcome speech given by Vandana Dalal (Executive Director), who was the coordinator and organizer of this event along with her MAAC team. Vandana said, “I do the event every other year, but this time I am doing this event two consecutive years in a row. The state cut funding; therefore I am happy that we could do this event this year. We do everything with education, which helps us to move our cause forward, to help provide classes, services, and assist immigrants in becoming productive American Citizens.” She then went on to thank the sponsors of the event.

Following the Welcome speech, the wonderful program started with the singing of the National Anthem and the Indian Anthem which were sung by Expo Tagyap, Jodh Singh Rawat. Afterwards, a prayer dance was performed by dancers from the R.K. Academy dance group. The dancers performed the Bharat Natyam dance to the song “Adhuram Madhuram”, which left the audience in total delightment waiting for more songs and dancing throughout the evening.

The evening’s Masters of Ceremony were Ms. Laurie Martin and Mr. Jairaj Bhatia, who did a wonderful job setting the stage throughout the evening. Ms. Martin and Mr. Bhatia praised Ms. Vandana Dalal’s efforts in making this event a reality. Ms. Martin said to Gopali Sheth (Writer for Asian Media USA), “Vandana works very hard to bring education, classes, and legal services to the community.” Mr. Bhatia said. “The program is grant and donation supported and Ms. Dalal is a big part of this.” Both MCs were quite impressed by Ms. Dalal. They concluded their speech by announcing that the Raffle prizes will be awarded throughout the evening.

There were three awards given for dedication to providing services to the Asian community. The first award was given to Rita Singh of S R International for her hard work in providing community services. The second award was given to Dorothy M. Miaso for her work with the Literacy Volunteers of Illinois, Jump Start, other volunteerism and community services. The third award was given to Raja Krishnamoorthi for his movement to help create jobs in Illinois, served as issues director for Barack Obama’s successful U.S. Senate campaign in 2004, and in 2010 he ran for Illinois State Comptroller. Raja encouraged the audience to vote because it is the vote that puts people into office.

A Bhangra dance was performed by the dancers from the R.K. Academy dance group. Right after this wonderful dance, Jesse White honored the R.K. Academy dance group with a plaque which also contained a license plate of “RK ACAD” for their hard work in winning first place in Spain International Dance Competition. This was a great achievement for the R.K. Academy dance group who represented the United States, the State of Illinois, and the Indian Community.

Concluding the awards, came the President’s speech by Mr. Ravi Rawat, who said, “I am very glad to be helping the Asian American community for a couple of years now and we hope to continue this effort.” In concluding his speech, he thanked his executive committee.

Jesse White was the Key note speaker for this event. He said, “This program helps keep young kids in school, MAAC provides literacy programs, GED, and ESL classes, and his department provides MAAC funding.” Then he introduced the start of his Tumbling team. The Tumbling team performed double and triple flips along with six feet high trampoline jumps. At one point in time Jesse White did an impressive head stand and the tumblers went through his legs with ease. This was a must see!

This year Midwest Asian American Center was honored to bring guest speakers including Secretary of State Jesse White and other dignitaries (Raja Krishnamoorthi, Dan Kotowski, Rita Singh, Dorothy Miaso, Michelle Mussman, and Dr. Gopal Lalmalani). The Secretary of State’s Office provided the mobile unit from the driver’s facility at the event to assist clients with the renewal of drivers’ licenses, state IDs and driving permits. The Social Security Administration office provided updates (Social Security benefits are going up (3.6% cost of living adjustment) and the Medicare premiums are going down for Base Part B).

For the rest of the evening, the R.K. Academy dance group provided more colorful mix of dances throughout the evening.

The R.K. Academy dance group dancers included the following: Kavina Munshi, Krupa and Kruti Kadiwala, Bhavi, Parin, and Parita Shah, Anusha Amin, Esha Bhatt, Rohan Munshi, Koral Shah, Shivani Darji, Jay Rao, Sneha Thakkar, Shweta Thakkar, Anisha Bhansi, Ritika Rawat, Sonia Gupta, Reet Rawat, and Nathan Bhansi. Choreograher was the sensational Pika Munshi.

There were many sponsors, which included the following, but not limited to:
Bombay Chopsticks India House (Chef CS Rawat), Lavish Weddings (Maria Chavez), The National Republic Bank of Chicago (Dinesh Gandhi), ISP India Sari Palace, Udupi Palace, Tiffin, Genex Corporation (Nand Belani), Medstar Laboratory, Inc., Pan-Oceanic Engineering Co. (Gulzar Singh), various DDS sponsors, various Doctor sponsors, Farmers Insurance Group (Anil K. Sharma Agency), TLC Leasing Company and BP Transportation, LLC (Bob Patel), Jaya Travel & Tours, Merlin Shops (Arun, Madhu, and Mitesh Patel), Quick Color, Pan Consulting, LLC (Pankaj Patel), Sunrise Electronics of Chicago (Ashok Vakil), Muller’s Woodfield Acura in Hoffman Estates, various Dunkin Donuts sponsors, Satyam Photo and Video (Harshad Patel), Amer Design Studio, Franklin Discount Drug (Raj Lodhavia), R.K. Academy of Performing Arts (Ms. Pika Munshi), Vimlan Tax Services (Milan Madhani), Rami’s Flowers and Flowers (Indra Rami), Metlife (Kena Contractor),
Level Construction, Maharaja Farm, Rajeshree Grocers, Waterford Banquet and Conference Center, Horizon Medical Center, and the many families who helped to sponsor this event.

The board members present during the event included: Mr. Ravi Rawat, Mrs. Laurie Martin, Mr. Jagmohan Jayara, Mr. Raman Patel, Mr. Kishore Chugh, Mr. Nand Belani, Dr. Raj Patel, Dr. M.S. Kapadia (President Directors), Mr. Jairaj Bhatia (Secretary), Mrs. Shirley Hathaway (Joint Secretary), Mr. Suresh Raheja (Treasurer), Mrs. Deval Vyas (Cultural Coordinator), Mrs. Pika Munshi (Joint Coordinator), Mr. Kalpesh Joshi (Public Relations), Mrs. Stella Pillay (Joint Public Relations), Mr. Pankaj Patel, and Ms. Vandana G. Dalal.

About Midwest Asian American Center
Midwest Asian American Center continues providing services to our community, building a better tomorrow for people who today are not as fortunate as we are. In the past year, MAAC was able to serve more than 350 students at its site in a variety of programs, which has made a difference in their families, irrespective of age, race and gender. They will continue to provide services and move forward with a fresh vision to create a world that is change for the better. MAAC would like to work together and address the root causes of the issues that keep our communities from growing to their potential. MAAC provides classes to those that speak English as a second language, citizenship, educational fieldtrips, basic computer skills, healthcare issues, and literacy arts. They also provide services such as legal assistance with immigration status and citizenship referrals, social services referrals and updates on welfare reforms, LIHEAP (Energy Assistance Program), Volunteer tutor training, Multicultural programs, and Tours in and out of Chicago. Midwest Asian American Center is affiliated with many Chicago based educational and social service agencies, including ICIRR, CMAA, IDPH, IDHS, and others.

Photographs and Press release by: Asian Media USA

Suresh Bodiwala
Chairman
Asian Media USA
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