South Asian Bar Association raises $11,000 for Nepal relief

SAN FRANCISCO (June 4, 2015) - The South Asian Bar Association of Northern California (SABA-NC) held a fundraiser on May 29 raising nearly $11,000 for Nepal Earthquake relief efforts being conducted by two well-respected charitable organizations - Adhikaar and CARE - that are providing aid in Nepal.   Funds were raised from over 50 individuals and organizations, including leadership gifts from the Nassiri & Jung Foundation and Sasha Rao.  All funds raised, up to $5000, were matched dollar for dollar by SABA-NC. 

Founded in 2005, Adhikaar is a non-profit organization based in New York that is committed to improving the lives of Nepali-speaking communities.  In the days following the earthquake, Adhikaar has been coordinating with volunteers in India to send funds to Nepal for earthquake relief efforts.    

Beginning in 1978, CARE was one of the first international aid agencies to work in Nepal.  CARE's emergency specialists from across the world are now in Nepal, along with the over 150 staff CARE already has in Nepal working in the majority of the affected districts. 

"SABA is proud to be able to support the ongoing and urgent earthquake relief efforts being conducted in Nepal by two wonderful organizations," said Vid Prabhakaran, co-President of SABA-NC.  "We are thankful to our sponsoring organizations and donors for their generosity and we hope that others are similarly inspired to donate as well."  

The successful fundraiser, held at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP's Menlo Park offices, was organized in less than 2 weeks thanks to the leadership of the SABA-NC In-House Counsel Group and its chair, Sarita Venkat.  The primary organizers included Neel Chatterjee, Raju Goyal, Anjali Jaiswal, Charles Jung, Rudhir Patel, Kirupa Pushparaj,  Kriti Rajput, Sasha Rao, Manohar Reddy, Bharath Venkat, and Akshay Verma.  

"I'm thrilled that the community came together so quickly to support Nepal Earthquake survivors," said Bharath Venkat, one of the lead organizers for the fundraiser and a member of the In-House Counsel Group.  "In times of tragedy, lawyers prove time and time again that they will step up to help their brothers and sisters."