Background:

The Ninash Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, formed in 1996 in memory of Nina J. Malhotra. Nina was passionate about education and children abroad. Since her own life was cut tragically short by cancer, her husband, Dr. Ashok Kumar Malhotra along with his sons Raj K. Malhotra and Ravi K. Malhotra,  created the Ninash Foundation to perpetuate Nina's goals and values, especially her passionate support for the performing arts and literacy throughout the world.  Nina, combined with her husband’s name, Ashok made up the “Ninash” foundation.

Mission:

1. To mitigate suffering for the socially and economically disadvantaged within the United States and Abroad
2. To provide educational funding for individuals within the United States and Abroad
3. To contribute funding for the advancement of medical and scientific research within the United States and Abroad
4. To assist the cultural community within the United States and Abroad by providing monies for operating and capital expenditures

 

 Ninash Foundation Celebrates the 10th Anniversary of the Oneonta Sister City Project by Visiting India

The Ninash Foundation Team of ten people celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Oneonta sister city project in India from December 27, 2009 to January 17, 2010.  Dr. Ashok  Malhotra, President of  the Ninash Foundation and SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor and  Ms. Linda Drake,  Treasurer of the Ninash Foundation and Director, SUNY Oneonta Center for Social Responsibility and Community accompanied the group consisting of  Dr. John Koller, Board Member and Professor Emeritus, RPI, Troy, New York; Dr. Mimi Forman, Board Member and Psychologist, New York City; Mr. Mike Whelan, Filmmaker from Saratoga Springs;  Ms. Imola,  artist from Las Vegas; Mr. Raj Malhotra, Secretary for the Ninash Foundation and Investment consultant from New Jersey; Mrs. Christina Malhotra, Board Member and Grant Writer for  music and art, New York City,  and Ms. Rayna and Ms. Anya, third grade and Kindergarten students from Glen Ridge, New Jersey. 
From December 28, 2009 to January 8, 2010, the Ninash Team visited the five Indo-International schools and was involved in a number of celebrative activities. 
On December 30, the Ninash group visited the Indo-International Culture Preservation School, Mahapura, Jaipur. Here Drs. John Koller and Mimi Forman could see with their own eyes the difference their financial contributions have made towards building the state-of-the-art Computer-Library with six computers and two thousand books as well as an artisan wing in the school that will provide vocational instructions to children towards creating and restoring stained glass windows, a dying art in India. This library and the artisan wing will be accessible to the children, faculty and members of the community.

From December 31, 2009 to January 4, 2010, the celebrative events at the Oneonta Sister City Indo-International School in Dundlod involved the opening of the up-to-date Christy Koller Memorial Library-Computer Center with ten thousand books, computers, DVD and CD players, over head projector, email and educational games.
The Dundlod Indo-International School that started with 50 impoverished children in 1996 has grown from an elementary to a high school with 550 children. It is Ninash’s star school because it has proudly sent 10 underprivileged children to college during 2009. The school celebrated its 14th anniversary with the performances by the children in Rajasthani, Hindi and English to entertain the foreign and local guests. It was an impressive heart-winning performance by the children.

Moreover, thanks to the efforts of Linda Drake and generous contributions of the Oneonta and Cooperstown communities, 28 dairy goats were given away to the poorest of poor villagers of Dundlod so that they would have milk and cheese to feed their families. During the past four years, local donors have graciously contributed a total of 103 goats to the village of Dundlod. Furthermore, the Ninash Team gave away a harmonium to a blind musician of Dundlod in recognition of his contributions to providing entertainment to the SUNY groups since 1996.   
 The Indo-International School in Kuran, situated in a remote area of Gujarat, which was devastated by the 2001 earthquake, was opened by the Ninash Foundation with 205 children in 2001, now has grown to 235 in 2010. From January 6-8, 2010, Dr. Malhotra and Ms. Drake participated in a number of celebrative events: they performed the ribbon cutting ceremony to inaugurate a new High School to be built during the next year; moreover, they opened a state-of-the-art Library-Computer Center with six computers and internet along with one thousand books, news papers and educational games. The Mayor of Kuran, called the Sarpanch, celebrated the event by sending the first email to Drs. John Koller and Mimi Forman for their financial contributions towards the opening of the new library in memory of their daughter Christy Koller.  The importance of this event lays in the fact that this remote village in Gujarat, which was completely devastated during the 2001 earthquake, has come out of isolation now by having an internet access to every part of the globe. A momentous accomplishment for the villagers and the world! 
Other events at the Indo-International School in Kuran included the opening and switching on of the Water Filtration Plant to supply clean drinking water to the school children and the opening of a Children Center to provide after school activities. The children embellished the celebration by entertaining the guests through performances in the three languages of Gujarati, Hindi and English.

Another highlight of the trip was an invitation from Narendrakumar, a student completing MA in Social Work from Anand University in India. He had followed the model of the Ninash Foundation by starting his own Way-Made Charity using his personal savings. Through this charity, he built a nursery school for the 64 tribal children of Sagbara, a small town near the border of Gujarat and Maharashtra. Dr. Malhotra was invited to be the chief guest at the opening of the new school in this tribal area where the children gave a touching performance for two hours. 
The Ninash Foundation, a 501C (3) charitable organization, was established in 1996 to spread literacy among the impoverished children and adults throughout the world. It depends upon funds raised by the students from SUNY Oneonta, Oneonta City and Cooperstown schools as well as donations by the local and upstate New York rotaries and members of the national and international community.
The Ninash Foundation has built five schools in the isolated villages of India that are providing education to more than 1050 underprivileged children. In order to continue providing free education to these impoverished children, the Foundation needs to raise at least $50,000 in donations each year to keep the schools running.  The Foundation’s goal is to raise $250,000 to set up a trust fund, the interest from which will be used to support these schools in perpetuity. 
Please contribute generously to the trust fund by mailing your donations to: The Ninash Foundation, 17 Center Street, Oneonta, NY 13820, USA  or visit the Ninash website at (www.ninash.org) and contribute electronically through PayPal.

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