Money to help support victims of domestic violence.
By The American Bazaar Staff
DALLAS, TEXAS: The Hyatt Regency Hotel in Richardson, Texas, hosted the fourth annual CHETNA (Compassion Harmony Education Trust Nurturing Awareness) gala to raise awareness of and money for south Asian females who are victims of domestic violence, on March 29th.
Over 300 supporters from Dallas turned out to lend their support to the cause. The event featured dinner, music, dance performances and a live and silent auction, with a keynote address by Krish Dhanam, a motivational guru and author from the Ziglar Group of Companies.
Dhanam has authored programs on “staff development, sales, leadership, personal development and communication,” according to the CHETNA website. “His client list is the who’s who of global enterprise and he has received accolades from some of the most distinguished organizations including The United States Army, Christian Dior, Marriott Hotels, Cadbury Schweppes, EDS, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, PepsiCo, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Energizer Batteries.”
Two prominent desi personalities, Joya Dass and Jitin Hingorani, emceed the event. Dass is a host and anchor of the Asian Variety Show (AVS) and covers business news for Time-Warner’s NY1, while Hingorani is a Manhattan-based entertainment reporter who also runs his own media company, Jingo Media.
In a press release issued by CHETNA, the organization’s co-founder Anu Agarwal expressed her happiness and gratitude for how the whole event turned out.
“We raised more than $120,000 at our gala this year, a 25% increase from last year,” she said. “Our organization relies [entirely] on the generosity of the community to provide much-needed services, in the form of a confidential helpline during times of crisis, peer support, counseling, community education and outreach to help battered women. These funds will be a huge support for us to provide services for South Asian families in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, especially a flexible transitional housing program in 2014,” said Agarwal.
CHETNA was founded with the intent to “empower South Asian victims of domestic violence by bringing them to safety, helping them rebuild their lives, and end their cycle of violence.” The organization prides itself on organizing grass-roots movements to raise money and awareness for battered women.
(Photos in this story courtesy of CHETNA and Jingo Media.)