Songs of Harmony, Hands of Hope, a Home for special people

A shelter and a school for special people in need.

What’s the connection between an evening of songs, a residential home and school and vulnerable people with needs in India. The connection is YOU. 

You can make a difference to the lives of destitute children and adults with needs. Find out how you can help Bala Vihar (a NGO and a home for the special needs children and adults in Chennai) build shelters for the children and adults. Read on…

Haven’t we all experienced the healing power of music ? Music soothes frayed emotions, increases biological well-being, encourages positive thoughts and empathy and mostly music with all its magic– connects. Music is a  experience which holds all the listeners together bound by the harmonies, notes and lyrics.

We are asking you to connect with Bala Vihar through a shared evening of music offered by the one and only TM Krishna in an event called “Songs for Bala Vihar”. This evening of music will be held in Singapore on 7 Oct 2017. 

This is a private ‘by invite’ event to raise awareness and support infrastructure building at Bala Vihar. All and any contributions from this evening will help transform the lives of these amazing but vulnerable children and adults who call Bala Vihar their home.

Robert Frost may have been speaking about Bala Vihar. They have a policy of ‘no refusal’. Which means - whatever the state of their resources, if a special person needs them, they will take them in with hearts and arms wide open. 

And now, that’s what they are asking of the world. They are asking us to open our hearts out and support their people. Bala Vihar has been helping special needs children and adults from the lower economic classes in Chennai over the last 64 years.

Wherever you are in the world, you can fund and support this crowdfunding initiative. Our big goal is to raise INR 1 crore (SGD 212000) and through this crowdfunding campaign we aim to raise INR 40 Lakhs (SGD 85000). The funds will be used to help renovate their home in Vepampattu and to build a school for the children. 

No amount is too small and no contribution is too big for this cause.

WAYS TO CONTRIBUTE :

I AM NOT FROM SINGAPORE: 

Then please donate by contributing on this campaign page to help Bala Vihar. Your funds will help the children and adults of Bala Vihar to be safe and happy.

OR

IF YOU ARE IN SINGAPORE: 

Get invited to 'Songs for Bala Vihar' a musical evening with TM KRISHNA at 5.30 pm on Saturday, 7th Oct 2017, at Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Singapore. Contact Prerana at +65 98585842 or write to songsforbv@gmail.com for a personal invitation. Fund SGD 250 per person and get invited to the event. 

How to transfer funds

Company: Flat Globe Capital PTE Ltd.
Singapore $ account: 7171/ 074902075-0
Name of Beneficiary Bank: DBS Bank / SWIFT: DBSSSGSG
Bank Address: 12 Marina Boulevard, DBS Asia Central, Marina Bay Financial Centre Tower 3, Singapore 018982
Bank Phone: +65 6222 2200, Country: Singapore

THE PEOPLE BEHIND THIS CAMPAIGN, BEHIND THE SCENES, IN FRONT OF YOU

 We are global nomads with residences and passports in countries we lived in or moved to. One thing binds us all together- special needs. We are mothers and feel deep empathy to caregivers of special need children and adults.

PIC : That's us ... the people behind the campaign.

The person who started this in Singapore is Mala. Mala’s connection with Bala Vihar is personal. Her sister supports them as their Hon. Treasurer, and her family has always volunteered with Bala Vihar. When she heard that they needed money to fund their infrastructure improvement, she pulled us together and made a simple appeal “Help them. Let’s give back”.

So began the story in 2015. Vaish and Ramapriya made a visit to Bala Vihar and what they saw there moved them deeply. They went in expecting cynicism and sadness and what they saw was sunshine, smiles and hope. We were all now tied emotionally to the cause. So we pulled together a campaign in 2015 to raise awareness. This low-key effort to fundraise helped Bala Vihar renovate their kitchen and dining areas.

ALL SMILES AND SUNSHINE! 

The Bala Vihar kids, at their happiest! 

In 2016, we did a “by-invite” only social dinner (with a quiz, auction and songs by Akila’s daughter, Varsha) and this effort raised enough to fund the renovation of some dormitories in Kilpauk, Chennai. Meanwhile, Mala’s daughter Gowri Mohan continues to support Bala Vihar in her school UWC, Dover. Fast forward to now. In 2017, when TM Krishna offered his support, we were thrilled. We took this generous offer to organise this musical evening, in the hope of raising even more awareness and therefore more funding for Bala Vihar.  

This year, the money we collect will rebuild the facilities in Vepampattu, near Chennai.

Things started to roll in when our friend and neighbour Manoj Jain, a philanthropist and a McKinsey alumnus offered to host the event under the umbrella of his company Flat Globe Capital Pte Ltd. Soon, Manoj’s dear friend, Dr Sundeep Koachar, a motivational speaker and celebrity astrologer offered to present the evening. We were excited and we admit– a wee bit anxious. Can we make this happen? Pull it through? Will people contribute? YES. We set the intention to raise all the money and believe in the goodness of the world.

With our fingers crossed and with plenty of knocking on the wood, we KNOW that the event will be a success and we will raise enough funds to support the rebuilding in Vepampattu.

PIC: TM Krishna @ a Live Concert.

EVENT DETAILS 

‘Songs for Bala Vihar’- a musical evening with TM Krishna will be held at the beautiful Sundaram Tagore Gallery in Singapore on the evening of 7 Oct 2017. The soiree starts at 5:30 pm.

TM Krishna is an exemplary musician who is traditional and also innovative with the classical Carnatic form. He is a recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay award for his commitment as an artist and an advocate to arts power in healing India’s social divisions and breaking barriers of class and caste. Dr Sundeep Koachar a motivational speaker and a celebrity astrologer with an international clientele will present the evening.

OUR PARTNERS IN SINGAPORE

ABOUT BALA VIHAR :

For over 60 years now, Bala Vihar has been providing loving care, service and shelter to numerous adults and children coping with mental illnesses. A unit of Guild of Service and operating out of Chennai, Bala Vihar has separate residential homes for children up to 18 years at Kilpauk and for adults at Vepampattu.

PIC: Children at Bala Vihar, busy at work and play.

Bala Vihar strives to provide education and rehabilitation to mentally challenged individuals from socially and economically underprivileged sections of society. They achieve this through providing:

• Special schools : Residential and day care centres to train children with autism, cerebral palsy and downs syndrome
• Therapeutic services and teacher care to allow student integration into  society
• Physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and vocational education
• A team of passionate teachers, trainers and staff who provide individual attention.

WHAT MAKES BALA VIHAR UNIQUE? 

• They NEVER refuse admission to a special needs person. Providing shelter, care, food, medical facilities, education and vocational training involve a great deal of expense. Every rupee contributed helps this very worthy cause.
• Bala Vihar is under the umbrella of the truly amazing organisation– the Guild of Service (http://guildofservicecentral.org/programmes-for-the-differently-abled/). Established in 1923, Guild of Service is one of the oldest social service organisations in the country. Bala Vihar is their outreach to special needs adults and children with intellectual challenges.
• Good governance: Bala Vihar is well audited and well run. There is a board of management with office bearers. The accounting team has qualified accountants with up to date accounting software. The systems are audited by the government.
• Bala Vihar’s focus in on rehabilitation and mainstreaming of its wards.
• For more information visit http://www.balaviharchennai.org.in 

PIC: A patient learning computers in an effort to join the mainstream workforce 

TAX BENEFITS: 

This campaign is eligible for Tax benefits if you are an Indian tax payee. Please fund on Fueladream.com. Receipts will be sent to you by the team at Bala Vihar approximately 30 days after the campaign ends.

COSTS & FUND USE: 

All the funds collected through this crowdfunding campaign (Nett of crowdfunding charges) will be credited to the account of Bala Vihar. Please run through the expenses heads indicated below. They outline the budget that Bala Vihar has and their requirements. We have a goal of INR 40 Lakhs (SGD 85000) but would ideally like to to collect INR 1 crore (SGD 212000) through this campaign (which will partly cover the needs of Bala Vihar). Let’s together strive to help Vepampattu.

The cost sheet below indicates a requirement of  INR 1.23 CRORE (SGD 260000)