Dinner for a cause
The Loomba Foundation, a global NGO that works for the welfare of widows and education of their children, had recently organised fundraising charity dinners in Gurugram and Mumbai to celebrate its 20th anniversary and officially launch a partnership with the Rotary India Literacy Mission (RILM). Cherie Blair, the President of the NGO, was the guest of honour.
RILM and the Foundation have joined hands to provide basic literacy and livelihood skills to 30,000 widows to help them lead a life of dignity. The partnership will also send back to school, 2,000 children of these widows, who have dropped out of school or never been to school.
The Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar was the chief guest at the dinner in Gurugram. Past RI President Kalyan Banerjee, also the chief advisor of RILM, attended the event in Mumbai. He had earlier signed the agreement with the Foundation in June 2017 in London.
Rotary clubs can identify beneficiaries in their districts for the programme. Facilitators from RILM will train the widows in various vocational skills and on successful completion of the course, they will be provided placements or supported to establish their own small-scale business.