Nurturing bonds

Although our work is primarily focused in Ahmednagar, we feel very lucky to also have very strong supporter bases in India and overseas. This includes our amazing Snehalaya Pune team who do an incredible job connecting us with new supporters and donors and contributing to the activities of our Snehaldhar Pune shelter home. Having a dedicated team in our closest metro city opens up a wealth of opportunities to expand and promote our work.

Each year, the team organises a donor and well-wisher meet which was help in October this year, attracting over 200 attendees to our fifth annual get-together. The highlight was an in-depth interview with representatives from our Snehankur (adoption center) project, Dr Prajakta Kulkarni, Honorary Director, and Mr Balasaheb Warule, Project Coordinator, and Shubhangi Koparkar from our Pune team. The interview covered the journey of Snehankur, established in response to the high number of abandoned babies found by and brought to us over the years since our inception in 1989. Information on the new procedures associated with adoption, the challenges they present and the impact on the overall adoption scenario in India. Many long-standing queries and confusion about the adoption process, how it works, the hurdles, and the way ahead were discussed in detail.

Our Founder, Dr Girish Kulkarni, also spoke, highlighting our more recent achievements and initiatives, the impact of our work done and the path ahead for Snehalaya. He also summarised the changing scenarios for non-profits with regard to laws, taxation, due diligence, audits and inspection and the plans to upscale our organisation adding how well-wishers and donors can actively participate in our work. He urged all those who had never visited Snehalaya Ahmednagar to come and learn more about our work.

The event also gave us the opportunity to thanks some partners who have been supporting us for over 7 years. These included CSR partners Bajaj Finserv, Eagle Burgman and Promobi. Also honoured were Sunanda Patwardhan has been knitting sweaters for our children for the last 10 years, Mr Jayant Gujrathi and Mr Kachre who have supplied groceries to Snehayala Pune for the last 8 to 10 years and Suresh Paranjape, another long-time donor. Unfortunately the list is too long We are grateful to all of our supporters who hold a special love and affection for Snehalaya and our children and we truly appreciate each and every one of them but the list is so long it is impossible to meet or list them all but we are deeply indebted to all of them for their unwavering support, love and recognition.