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Click on the flyer or buttons!
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Monthly Project Highlight!
TNF Merit Scholarships
TNF helps school & college students who demonstrate academic success via scholarships that help them realize their dreams. Several donors have established scholarship projects to benefit students. You can set up one too!
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Dear TNF Patrons,
With less than 100 days to go, preparations are in full swing for our Golden Jubilee celebrations. While we take pride in the difference we continue to make, it is also equally important to celebrate the success of TNF in the past five decades and pave the path for the next five decades. If you haven't registered yet, please do so at convention.tnfusa.org asap.
We are still recruiting participants for the entertainment programs. If you are interested in participating in Tamil Isai, Therukkoothu, Symphony and Fusion dance, please reach out to support@tnfusa.org.
It takes a village to host an event such as TNF50, which enable TNF reach new heights in the service we do. We need lot of helping hands to join our volunteer teams irrespective of where you are located. Any help you can offer from where ever you are will help us move forward one step closer to the finish line. If you are able to volunteer, please email support@tnfusa.org.
You can also register to volunteer and/or participate at convention.tnfusa.org. I look forward to meeting you all in May at Chicago!
எல்லோரும் வாங்க! எங்களோடு வாங்க!
சிகாகோ வாங்க! TNF50ஐ சிறப்பிக்க வாங்க!
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Lakshmi Narasimhan Munugoor, Vice President (Membership), is a resident of New Hampshire. Originally from Karur, Tamil Nadu, Lakshmi has been associated with the Tamil Nadu Foundation (TNF) for over 15 years. He has served on the national board and the Greater Boston Chapter Committee in various roles.
In addition to his contributions to TNF, Lakshmi serves as the President of Bharathi Vidyashram. His commitment involves fostering cultural heritage and traditional values through educational classes conducted in the Greater Boston area.
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Lakshmi is also a passionate Tamil literature enthusiast, leading weekly classes and study groups on Panniru Thirumurai, Thiruppugazh, etc.
Actively engaged in the community, Lakshmi volunteers at the Hindu Temple of New Hampshire. Furthermore, he is a founding member of the Bala Gokulam program, where he imparts knowledge to young children about the social, spiritual and cultural heritage of India.
Lakshmi envisions, through TNF and other organizations, encouraging the next generation of the Indian community in the US to actively participate in charitable activities and other engagements that connect them with their ancestral home of India.
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Nutritional boost for middle schoolers proves beneficial
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Elementary school students in Government schools were served breakfast until 5th grade by the Government. The project stopped when they got promoted to 6th grade and beyond, which had an adverse effect on their academic performance and health. Sensing the need, TNF launched the nutritional supplement project in 2021 during TNF Annual conference at Chennai.
A study conducted amongst the 545 students
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who benefitted during the pilot project showed an increase in their weight, improved attendance and consistent performance in academics. As a result, South Florida chapter added 3 more schools to benefit with this program, namely the Government High schools at Mecheri, Jarikondalapatti and Neikarapatti of Salem district. With these additions, the total number of beneficiaries has risen to 781 students across 14 ABC schools.
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TNF Health camps include Kidney, Eye & Dental screening
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A Kidney disease awareness camp was organized at a remote village Paypanayampatti in Madurai District on 28th of January 2024. A total of 103 patients were screened for kidney disease. District Collector of Madurai Tmt. Sangeetha, I.A.S.,
was as invited as Chief Guest for the
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occasion and was very impressed by the efforts to TNF to bring access to education and health care to remote areas of rural Tamil Nadu.
Along with the camp, Free Eye screening and dental screening were conducted by Aravind Eye Hospital and a local dental practice respectively. Eye glasses were distributed who were diagnosed with refractory errors were distributed during the camp. In addition, about 17 patients were given free
transportation to get cataract surgery the next day in a nearby eye hospital.
The idea of organizing a kidney disease awareness & screening camp was proposed and implemented by a TNF donor Dr Niranjan in 2018. The first camp in 2018 was organized at Rajapalayam, Virudhunagar district and a second camp in 2019 at Mullukurichi, Namakkal district.
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Educational Scholarships - January 2024 update
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During the month, 35 students received scholarships totaling an amount of ₹ 4,29,198/-.
| Description |
# of Beneficiaries |
Scholarship Amount
(in Rupees)
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| VTK Memorial Educational Scholarship |
1 |
₹ 5,000.00 |
| Dr. Ramadas Abboy Memorial Educational Scholarship |
29 |
₹ 3,39,000.00 |
| Sivasubramaniam Memorial Educational Scholarship |
1 |
₹ 13,000.00 |
| Stanley Medical Alumni Educational Scholarship |
2 |
₹ 46,898.00 |
| Educational Assistance to the Destitute and Socially Abandoned School children |
2 |
₹ 25,300.00 |
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35 |
₹ 4,29,198.00 |
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Simple Ideas => Big Impact : Tamil Youth Making Impact
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In the midst of inviting applications from summer interns for TAYMAI grants, here are a couple of success stories which began as a simple idea but are making big impact.
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Preethi Bhaskar, a regular attendee at Philadelphia sponsored YOX (Youth Online Exchange) program noticed the interest of students attending from Nerkuppai library in learning English the proper way. Encouraged by it, she proposed a winning grant titled Enabling English Literacy for Self Empowerment (EELS) as a pilot project. She built her proposal taking advantage of an earlier TAYMAI grant winning idea of using Talking Pen. Using the pen as a tool and Bob books, she devised several activities that she shared with the mentors on the ground. She also continued to partner with the mentors, interacted/coached the students during YOX sessions.
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The results speak for themselves. Preethi, in a recent panel discussion about TAYMAI grants to potential grant submitters said, "In addition to obtaining English fluency, I noticed their confidence level has grown up. It is very encouraging to see the growth and hope to expand the project further. The project evolved to be so fun for them and I, we began calling the project Fun with English Phonics (FEPS).
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The TAYMAI grant winning idea Talking pen project (ideated by Saathvik Selvan & Sharvaa Selvan) began as a small project that has made big impact in terms of reach and inspiration to more ideas such as EELS. Recently, TNF supplied the pens to 8 more schools.
There is an increasing demand for the Talking pens due to the difference it makes in
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learning English and we hope to expand the reach of this idea to more schools in the near future.
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Youngsters continue to serve with skills
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Devadarshini, disciple of Smt. Sangeetha Sridhar raised a total of $2345 using her passion and interest in Bharatanatyam by organizing "Nritya Aradhana" through TNF. As a President of Indian student association at her school, she promotes our cultural values amongst youth and has incorporated UNICEF into her school. Her initiatives to spread awareness about health equity and general equality have been well received by a diverse group of students. TNF Youth & Young Professionals committee congratulate Devadarshini and wishes her good luck!
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Chicagoans take stage to showcase their music skills
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Tamil community of Chicago is warming up with events to create awareness about TNF50 across the Chicago land.
The week ends of February kept the community busy with events such as Valentine's day tea party and Karaoke events in two different suburbs.
Play the video on the left to view the reels on TNF Chicago's FB page and get a glimpse of what Chicago could offer at TNF50!
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Bay Area & Michigan kick start 2024 fundraisers
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Love filled the air in Bay Area as 200+ attendees indulged in a very special evening on Feb 2th featuring Bldg18 comedy & dinner to raise money for children in Tamil Nadu. Guests were greeted with tables full of valentines, galentines, palentines and kid-entines! Attendees shared that the event gave them an unique fun experience.
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Volleyball & Throwball enthusiasts of Michigan came together at UMW Sports complex, Pontiac on Feb 17th for TNF Michigan's fundraiser. The overwhelming response from the local community & positive feedback will make the tournament an annual winter event. Congratulations to all the winners!
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Thank you & welcome new members to TNF's 50 year Legacy!
(In honor of each new TNF member, college prep books will be donated to a student in need)
Anandan & Vasuki, Canton, MI
Balaji & Vaidehi, South Barrington, IL
Chitrarasu & Kaviyaveni, Aurora, IL
Dinakaran & Subhashini Devi, Irving, TX
Karthikeyan & Niveditha, Okemos, MI
Lakshmi & Mahendran, Lexington, KY
Manickaraj & Meena, Smyrna, GA
Mohankumar & Padmapriya, Plain City, OH
Narayanan & Swetha, Bakersfield, CA
Niranjan & Nithya, Troy, MI
Ravichandran & Vijayalakshmi, Merrimack, NH
Sathya & Nagasree, Southwest Ranches, FL
Srinivasa Raghavan & Ramya, Pleasanton, CA
Srinivasan & Ponnila, Pembroke Pines, FL
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Support upcoming local chapter events
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Click on the image to register for the event.
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Click on the image to know more details
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