Bay Area Telugu Association (BATA) and Sankara Eye Foundation (SEF) joined hands yet again to recreate the stupendous success of Guntur hospital, which is now a role model hospital for all SEF hospitals.
A kick off fundraiser was organized for SEF's new hospital in Hyderabad and over $300,000 were raised during the event.
Well known community leaders, philanthropists, entrepreneurs, and volunteers from Telugu community joined the banquet and everyone donated generously to reach an important milestone defying all expectations.
The guests were treated to a red carpet welcome. A special gallery displayed the wonderful work that was done by SEF & BATA teams for the Guntur hospital over the years.
As the guests walked into the foyer at the Focus Hyderabad Banquet dinner, they were treated to mouthwatering appetizers while a number of BATA and SEF volunteers welcomed them personally and enthusiastically discussed the upcoming hospital in Hyderabad how eagerly the volunteers here and the community at large has been dedicated to raising $1M by the end of this year (to avail the $1M match by anonymous donor, to make the $2M to start construction).
They reminisced about the time more than a decade ago when we were going through very similar things for the Guntur Hospital, which has been up and running since 2004 and has been "self-sufficient" (the paying patients cover the cost of the free surgeries - which is one of the key metrics SEF uses to structure its hospitals).
They reminisced about the first SEF banquet in November 2003 at the exact same venue, the idea for which was seeded by none other than one of the biggest supporters and evangelist, Jayaram Komati.
Vijaya Aasuri, BATA Advisor and MC for the program, invited the dignitaries such, Raju Reddy, Ram Reddy, Jayaram Komati, Dr. Narsaiah Boora (Member of Parliament), Dr. Raghu Reddy, Sridhar Bathina, Satish Vemuri, BATA, SEF and TANA Leadership team for lighting the lamp ceremony to kick start the evening.
Popular telugu singer Sumangali entertained the guests with a great collection of popular Telugu songs. She was ably supported by talented local singers. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the evening with great music, food and conversations.
BATA and SEF volunteers have been working for over a month on this banquet, meeting at least once a week and working very hard to bring together the community through their announcements and discussions in the radio shows and emailers to different companies and through passionate appeals to their friends and acquaintances and through sheer dedication and focus to this cause.
With such a great start, there’s no doubt that SEF Hyderabad Hospital will come to fruition very soon and BATA, as a recognized Partner in Service, will be there every step of the way!
