Sharmila Tagore spoke at the meet.
AB Wire
Child Rights and You America Inc., a 501c3 non-profit that works to ensure children their rights, raised $110,000 at its annual benefit dinner ‘Pledge 2016′ at The Taj Pierre in New York City, last week.
The annual event witnessed high profile guests come together to support the cause of children. Legendary actress Sharmila Tagore, Ernst & Young Partner Don MacNeal, Comedian Dan Nainan and Center 10 founder Roopa Unnikrishnan were the speakers at the event.
India has made tremendous economic strides in the last decade, but its children continue to battle deprivation of their rights. With their rights vastly ignored, millions of children are out of the safety net, forced into labor, malnourishment, abuse and illiteracy, said CRY in a press release.
Speaking at Pledge 2016, Shefali Sunderlal, President, CRY America said, “Only 54% of children complete their education in India due to obstacles such as child labor, child marriage, distance from schools and gender discrimination. CRY America works with grassroot projects, communities and local authorities to ensure children have quality education, healthcare and are protected from causes which hinder their development.”
She added: “Investments in children are essential to a child’s and the communities’ well-being. Ensuring children get their due enables them to reach their full potential and realize their dreams. Thus far, CRY America has impacted the lives of 618,915 children living across 3,084 villages and slums through support to 70 projects. This has been possible only because of the support received from 25,000 donors and 2,000 volunteers across the USA.”
Veteran Indian actress Sharmila Tagore said, “Lack of education and healthcare holds back the development of children. Together, we have a powerful voice and the resources to help organizations like CRY ensure that children have the right to live, learn, grow and play. Support CRY America and make a difference to a child’s life and your own.”
Pledge 2016 was attended by 140 high profile guests, including Anita & Ajay Agarwal, Rupal and Harsh Patil, Roopa Unnikrishnan and Sree Sreenivasan, Roopam and Sanjeev Jain, Sandeep and Nilima Jain, Sunil and Suman Bagaria, Arati and Srikanth Nagaraj, Meenakshi and Vikas Mahajan, Shikha and Mohit Bhatia, Reena and Samir Mathur, Kamal and Kirin Arora, Bobby and Jagruti Bansal.
Advisory Board member and NY Dinner Committee Chair, Anita Agarwal said, “All of us are here because CRY is important to us and we want to make a difference to children’s lives. Many of us have grown up in India with CRY greeting cards and the poster of Raju carrying bricks. I will never forget Rippan Kapur’s [CRY Founder] passion for ensuring that underprivileged children get their due share of rights. Thank you joining me this evening and making Pledge 2016 for child rights a great success.”
Items auctioned at the dinner included paintings donated by prominent Indian Artists Ram Kumar, Jehangir Sabavala, JMS Mani, Prakash Deshmukh, Pravin Utge and Deepa Vedhpathak; and designer clothes donated by JJ Valaya, Sabyasachi and Anita Dongre; a cricket ball autographed by Saurav Ganguly, a baseball autographed by Bill & Hillary Clinton, Abbey Road Album autographed by the Beatles, among others.