Arden Hills-Shoreview Rotary Club Receives Initial Approval for District 5960 Grant to fund Sewing School in Andhra Pradesh, India
Our Club submitted a request for a District Grant from Rotary District 5960 to fund the development of a Sewing School in Amaravathi, Andhra Pradesh, India and received tentative approval from the District. The grant request was then sent to Rotary International (RI) for a final review and approval, which was not forthcoming because Indian Law requires NGOs that receive foreign funds in India to have an account registered in accordance with the Indian Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). As such, the District has set aside funds for the grant as a contingency if we are able to find a way to comply with this regulation.
The requested funding is for a new school that would be developed by an Indian NGO called PUSHPA, which is the outgrowth of a Minnesota Non-Profit Corporation, also named PUSHA, organized by Arden Hills residents Gummadi Franklin and his wife Shirley. The Franklins spoke to our club in November, 2017, regarding the activities of PUSHPA’s charitable programs in India that are designed to help marginalized low caste or Muslim peoples help themselves out of impoverished circumstances. The kids that would benefit from such programs are kids like some of those pictured below.
Craig Leiser, a senior member of the District Grant Subcommittee and a former District Governor has made contact with and is engaged in discussions with an Indian Rotary colleague from Chennai who has indicated that he may be able to help us find a way to pass the grant funds through an Indian Rotary Club in his area that has a FCRA registration and we are awaiting further information regarding this possibility.
Bob Freed and Gummadi Franklin spoke to the Fridley-Columbia Heights Rotary Club on August 29 seeking support for the project.