Every year Saheli organizes a Walk to raise awareness about violence against women. Held in Burlington, Mass the Walk is supported by the Burlington Police Department. On Saturday September 27th about 80 women, men, children, elders, and even 2 dogs, attended the Saheli Walk. Following the 5K walk around Burlington Center, there was an exciting mela (fair) with fashionable clothes, jewelry and gifts being sold. Sahelis organized raffle prizes, and music and DJ Massa made the Walk a lively event this year. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and for the past 10 years, Sahelis have walked with banners and signs bringing awareness about domestic violence to the community.

Generous donors, leaders and sponsors from the community supported this good cause. To see a list of supporters please visit saheliboston.org. In addition, Saheli Rita Shah organized a successful online fundraising campaign called Purple Purse, an initiative where non-profits can raise money from their own community and have them matched by the AllState Foundation. Money raised from this Walk are held in a restricted fund to help survivors of domestic violence in the South Asian community including food, securing housing, clothing, transportation and other essential services.

Organizing an outdoor event was a lot of work and Saheli is very fortunate to have many wonderful volunteers. The 2014 Walk was the result of the hard work by many individuals but the following volunteers stand out.  Farhat Rangwalla of Andover coordinated the entire event with the help of Anjali Patel, Kanchan Chowdry, Deepa Nair and Luluah Safri. Sahelis Rita Shah, Bonie Bagchi Williamson, Sweta Mepani and Manish Patel worked alongside the Walk team side by side.

Teams of volunteers worked hard behind the scenes with plenty of cheer and support from three Detectives from the Burlington Police Department. With their magic touch volunteers, police officers and participants transformed the Council of Aging into a fun-filled fair ground. Participants walked, talked, danced and enjoyed great food. SETU performed three short plays about women and abuse. Behind the scenes Farhat’s team organized fliers and banners, vendors, food, raffle tickets, and pledge forms for males effortlessly and with a smile. Non-profit organizations depend on good volunteers , this team was wonderful. Saheli works hard to ensure that South Asian families live safe and healthy lives in the US and if you would like to be involved please visit the Saheli website at www.saheliboston.org and sign up to receive the newsletter and become a member, it is free.

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