The Desai Foundation, a family foundation that has created great impact in New England and in remote villages in Gujarat has widened its horizons. It is now a public foundation that is expanding its mission to impact the lives of a million women. Their fundraiser titled “The Lotus Festival” featured Miki Agrawal, Co-Founder of Thinx. 

The event was held on June 25 at the Collins Foundation, in Stow MA. The location is a transportation and aviation museum. The private museum boasts collections from the Roaring 20’s, the Korean, Vietnam and Second World War, as well as racecars and aircrafts from every era. The estate’s most notable treasures include a Wright Brothers’ plane, B52 bombers, a Ford Model T, and Al Capone’s very own Cadillac Limousine. The guests had the opportunity to view many of the beautiful antique cars and aircrafts.  

Megha Desai served as the master of ceremonies for the evening.  Samir and Megha described the work of the foundation , outlining its past accomplishments and laying out the vision for the future. 

The keynote speaker for the evening was Miki Agrawal, CEO of Thinx. With her no-nonsense attitude she talked about menstruation and other commonly held as taboo topics. She was quick to point out that the word Taboo  has its origin in menstruation.  The event also featured a fabulous concert by Harshita Krishnan and Alief Hamdan from the Berklee College of Music. 

In addition to donations, an art auction was held featuring pieces from the Asian Art Gallery. The evening ended with the big pitch for $500 to support tailoring training for 20 women that produces huge income generation opportunities. 

Lokvani tips its hat to the Desai Foundation for its vision and desire to make a grand social impact.