Bighelp For Education Pongal celebrations were held on January 9, 2005 at Johnson Middle School in Walpole, MA. This is a nonprofit organization dedicated to uplifting the underprivileged children in India through education. It has been a catalyst for better education in India for the past three years. It is currently supporting 80 students through its Sponsor-A-Child program, benefiting 2800 students through it Adopt-A-School program and 3500 students have participated in it Merit Awards program (www.bighelp.org).

The event attended by over 250 people. Subu Kota (The Boston Group), Vasantha Peddireddy (Cheyuta), Anupam Wali (IAGB), Baburao Polavarapu (TAGB), Ranjan Vadlapatla (TANE) and Vahini Kuppa (NETA) were special invitees.  Addressing the audience, Subu Kota talked about the overall goal to eradicate illiteracy.  "All of us came to US for a better education. When you meet someone, the first thing you ask is where do you work. If there is no job, there is no self respect and for a job, one needs education,” said Kota. He pledged support for 20 students through Sponsor-A-Child program. Peddireddy talked about Cheyuta’s mission to help orphans in Andhra Pradesh. “Education is the starting point for everything. What I can do, I must do- should be our goal,” said Peddireddy. Ranjan Vadlapatla pledged $200 towards Bighelp’s mission.

The event featured a colorful cultural program mceed by Madhavi Kamma. The program included Bharatanatyam, folk and film dances by Anshuleena Vipparla, Mrs. Soumya Ramanathan, Saloni Jain, Shujoya Paul, Supriya Jain, Aishwarya Ravi, Akash Ravi, Siddarta Pandhare, Karishma, Monica and Sushmita. There were rangoli, painting and coloring competitions. Sukanya Tedepalli and Vahini Kuppa won the Rangoli competition. Anshuleena Vipparla and Pragna won the painting competition while Nitya Yelamanchili, Roshini M, Sarika Pokala, Sadhana, Ravi Yelamanchili and Karishma Reddy won the coloring competition.

The event was a big success and helped raised awareness for an important issue. For more information, please check out their website at http://www.bighelp.org.

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