​Holi - The Festival of Colors. "What better way than Holi to bring color to children’s' lives was my initial thought (figuratively speaking), which led to our Holi event to be associated with the Sunshine Society. After I moved to US almost 22 years ago, we did not celebrate Holi for a very long time, even though we live in a heavily Indian-populated area. As the kids grew, just to make them aware of our culture, we started with a small holi celebration in my backyard. Then Vaishali, my very dear college friend, told me about Sunshine Society she started, and I started to look for funds for Sunshine everywhere. It was Holi around the same time, and an idea clicked, so I shared my Holi Fund Raising Idea with my husband and a friend here (another Vaishali) and they agreed. Then few of my other friends joined in the plan and now here we are, in our third year of this event. Around Holi time, it's still winter in the New Jersey area of the United States and the weather is unpredictable, but mother nature has been very good to us almost every time.
This year rain was predicted and our event was supposed to start at 2 PM, but the temperature was still decent. Guess what? It started raining at 2 PM on the dot. We were a bit apprehensive at first, but the rain stopped around 2:45 (didn't I just say that mother nature is always good to us?), and everything went well after that. 2 days before the event, we had been preparing many treats such as cookies, brownies, mango kalakand, samosas and of course chai. Another friend of mine always arranges for a professional music system for the event. Therefore we were able to play some traditional Holi music to get everyone in the spirit. We provided the color as well (no water colors because of the weather). The children and the adults were totally in the spirit of Holi and fundraising, and everyone enjoyed. I gave a short informational talk on what Sunshine does and how people here can support the cause. Then we had a fun round of Antakshari. Crowd was little bit less because of the weather but we still had loads of entertainment. We ask people to donate for the cause (although a donation is never required). Some friends mailed checks even though they could not come. The event is fun and frolic and a way to give back.
The colour of Holi has taken such a hold that now we all look forward to organizing this event every year. We also feel extremely satisfied after this experience. We want to do a lot of things for Sunshine, but I guess every journey starts with a small step, and this is our baby step toward a big sprint in the future. Thanks to our volunteers Vaishali, Vasavi, Shruti, Deepa, Preethi, Shalini, Kirti, Niharika, Anitha, Rama, Ruby , all kid volunteers and everyone else who come to support our event every year.
This year, we plan to donate the money in memory of our dear friend Manoj Chaudhari to celebrate the wonderful life he had. 

    

​March 8 and 9 were the days when Helping Hands (an initiative of CPA Global) gave our children and senior citizens a reason to smile and celebrate.
A young team of about 15 people decided to celebrate Holi with our children on March 8 and with our senior citizens on March 9, 2017.
On March 8, the children of the After School Study Program, village Hoshiyarpur, had a healthy evening, playing games with the team of CPA Global. The Helping Hands team matched the energy levels of the children and played different games with them and distributed snacks.
On March 9, the weather tried to play dampener, but could not beat the enthusiasm of our senior citizens and the CPA Global team. The senior citizens had a field day playing filmy chaupal, tambola and singing Holi songs. There is a divine satisfaction to bring smiles to our senior citizens and to spend time with them. There is so much that we can learn from them. Thanks to team Helping Hands, that were able to do just that along with cups of tea and snacks. Meghdootam Park bustled with songs and cheers from our senior citizens. A rainy sky also smiled and forced the sun out.
Hope we make this a regular activity.