TCF’S HELP FOR HOPE GALA RAISES $65K

Toronto Calcutta Foundation (TCF) celebrated 35 years of giving with a gala at Woodbine Banquet Hall in Toronto last month.

Attended by 140-plus guests, the event raised $65,000 for the causes TCF initiates and supports in Kolkata and Canada.

Anouchka Saha got the evening off to a musical start with a performance in the saxophone.

Shirsha Chakraborty’s vocals have held the audience in thrall for many years and this year – her fifteenth performing at the gala – was no different.

Saptak Bhadra’s and Powan Singh’s instrumental performance was followed by a dance performance by the talented Paromita Roy.

Thomas Allgoewer, the second president of TCF, came all the way from Ottawa to share his experience from the 1990s with the guests.

Dr. Sankar Dasgupta, who is funding the distribution of jackfruit saplings in and around Kolkata, addressed the audience. So far, TCF has distributed over 600,000 saplings with his support.

Chanchal Chakrabarti talked about how to save taxes by donating to charities.

Manoshi Chatterjee, a volunteer, presented the wide range of TCF’s activities. She described TCF’s work with disadvantaged girls, young children and women through its vocational and educational programs as well as health programs and disaster relief, etc.

TCF secretary Papia Dutta was the Emcee.

There were door prizes and a quiz testing the attentiveness of attendees as the questions were selected from the brochure and the speaker’s presentations!

“I had a wonderful time,” said a guest as the evening would up. “I look forward to this event every year – having a good time while raising funds for a good cause.”

To learn more about TCF’s activities, visit www.toronto-calcutta.org.