McLean County India Association President Uma Kallakuri has issued her goals for the organization and the Twin Cities' Indian community for 2015, as MCIA prepares for a February 21 youth open house from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Hindu Temple of Bloomington-Normal.
In a recent interview with NIOT:BN, Kallakuri emphasized the importance of reaching out to her community's youth. The following is Kallakuri's presidential address:
"Dear members of McLean County India Association,
The 2015 MCIA Committee and I wish you and your families a very happy, prosperous, healthy, successful and peaceful New Year!
I am greatly honored and humbled to be the 35th President of MCIA during 2015, one of the oldest organizations representing the Indian community in Central Illinois; the committee is looking forward to serving and working with all of you.
Thanks to the vision, foresight, and devotion of our founders, past presidents and their executive boards, and scores of dedicated volunteers, MCIA has come a long way. In the past few years we have fulfilled our purpose of promoting and sustaining the culture and heritage of India in McLean County. We personally thank all the volunteers and the sponsors, who are very critical for our organization’s continued success.
As we enter 2015 our vision becomes simple and clear:
Based on MCIA’s history of 35 successful years, we will plan and organize events and activities that will provide quality experiences and togetherness in the community.
To accomplish our vision we would like to focus on the 3 ‘I’s:
· Inspire – Inspire the McLean County Indian community to participate in community activities and leadership programs.
· Integrate - Integrate into the local community by providing more outreach and philanthropy programs in order to foster networking and mentorship by creating venues for people with similar interests.
· Identity – Our youth are the future of tomorrow. We aim to encourage our youth to learn about their Identity through exposing them to Indian values, culture and traditions, thereby providing a platform for them to become future leaders.
To achieve these goals:
We request you to come forward as a volunteer, donor, and sponsor to help us in achieving these goals and to also provide us with valuable feedback.
Lastly, a lot of what we do here is only possible by the generosity of our valued members of the community. Once again, we are thankful for their time, energy, creativity, thought, financial and dedicated support.
This is our organization - Our MCIA. I look forward to this year and our community coming together in support of McLean County India Association.
Long live MCIA.
Jai Bharat! God bless America!"