TRF Centennial Seminar at Pune

The Centennial Seminar of TRF organised by RI District 3131 brought in close to $300,000 to the Foundation, besides creating ­ripples all over the District with some unique achievements. The event held in November at Pune was hosted by RC Pune Central and presided over by TRF Trustee Chair Kalyan Banerjee. EMGA Ashok Panjwani was the Guest of Honour.

Rtn Kulbir Dodd was felicitated for his commitment to become an AKS member. Ninety-year-old Dodd is an NRI and an 8-year-old ­member of RC Pune North. His ­donation ­comprises a combination of ­Endowments and Term Gifts exclusively meant for promoting e-learning and extensive use of ­Tablets to make children tech-savvy.

The event also celebrated centenarian freedom fighter Raghunath Purushottam Takalkar’s contribution of $1,100 to TRF. “He is as old as our Foundation. The issue is not the money, but the intention to give,” said DRFC Deepak Shikarpur. Takalkar’s son Chandrasekhar is member of RC Pune Sahawas.

The seminar recognised the ­Spanish corporate Gestamp ­Automotive for its contribution of $77,600 under a CSR programme. The deal was sealed by Rakesh Bhargava, the District ­Director of CSR Funds for TRF. “This may be the first such donation in the ­country after the TRF Trustees passed a resolution for the Rotary Foundation (India) to accept CSR funds beginning this Rotary year,” said Shikarpur. The grant is to be used for literacy programmes.

Banerjee recalled the history of the Foundation saying, “it has grown so much from its first contribution of $26.5 almost a century ago. Today it is a proud moment for all of us, for, our Foundation has been named an outstanding world ­charity by the ­Association of ­Fundraising ­Professionals (AFP). TRF is a ­charity of choice for many.” He urged
Rotarians to donate ­generously, now that the ­Foundation has opened a new window of ­opportunity for more CSR funds, which means more projects.

The District, with its total ­contribution of $160,041 till  ­October, stands second only to D 3141, which has contributed $321,949 during the same period.