The annual Lotus Festival is a fundraiser to support the activities of the Desai Foundation. This year, the festival was celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Desai foundation.The event was held at the Omni Hotel in Boston Massachusetts on Sept 21, 2024. Reena Roy, ABC News Reporter, served as the master of ceremonies for the evening. 

Adding a special touch to the event, the lobby had booths where one could not just learn but engage with the different programs at the Desai foundation. For example, there was a spice station where you could look at the different spices that are made by women entrepreneurs in villages.  

The event opened with Megha Desai describing the different programs. “We keep women and children at the center,” said Megha. Megha talked about how the transformation of the Desai Family Foundation into a public foundation had enabled them to expand to different states. “Santhana Krishnan’s support allowed us to establish collaborations and bring the programs to Tamilnadu where we did not have a presence before, “ said Megha.

Several interesting items were auctioned at the event. All the funds from the auction were used to support the programs by Desai Foundation. The keynote speaker for the evening was Neha Desai Shah , founder of GEP who is not only a successful entrepreneur but also has made philanthropy part of her core work.  Young teens shared wonderful personal experiences of their own visit to  the villages. The night ended with participants dancing the night away. 

To learn about the Desai Foundation check out this video