Sahayta volunteers organized a Diwali program for all the children currently undergoing cancer treatment at PGI hospital in Chandigarh. A local artist entertained the kids with the latest songs and even got all of them to dance along. Along with the entertainment, we provided snacks as well as a gift for each child.

Sahayta organized a walkathon at Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh to raise awareness of breast cancer, which is the most common type of cancer among Indian women, both in terms of incidence and mortality.
The event was organized in association with The Times of India and Apollo Clinic. Around 700 people participated in the event.

CareAcross is an online community of patients and caregivers, offering the best way to fight cancer beyond their hospital – from diagnosis to long-term care.

The CareAcross mission is to support people affected by cancer, through credible information, useful tools, psychological support, and expert advice. CareAcross will empower patients and caregivers towards active partnership with their professional healthcare team, and strengthen the support among people facing similar challenges.

Sahayta will post latest articles and research from CareAcross on our Articles page on a regular basis. We look forward to this partnership that will help bring the latest news on cancer research, treatment and care to Sahayta supporters all around the world.

Every year in February, Sahayta organizes its annual day celebrations in Chandigarh. The event celebrates the gift of life and includes performances by volunteers, survivors and current patients and families who are being supported by Sahayta. We also honor our generous donors and share our organization's achievements from the preceding year. 
This year our liaison officer Ms. Hanima Grewal represented the US Chapter and shared our accomplishments with the audience (picture of Hanima presenting the update is included below). She spoke about our fund raising efforts in New York as well as our new website and  the new introductory video on our home page created by Nayeem Vohra.

Sahayta US board member, Amish Gandhi recently scaled Mt. Kilimanjaro and dedicated it to Sahayta and our mission. Here is his story...

Several years ago, Guru, a friend of mine and I decided to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. We talked about it and planned it, but then work and life took over and I didn't join Guru on the quest. He proceeded to climb it successfully, and dedicated his climb to Sahayta [Link: http://www.sahayta.org/1/post/2006/12/sahayta-supporter-scales-mt-kilimanjaro.html]. Fast forward 8 years, and I decided I was ready to take on the challenge. 

When I began the climb, the summit of Kilimanjaro seemed so far away, with 4000 meters of altitude between me and the summit. And also a rain forest, rocky facades, an alpine desert, rain, ice, snow and chilling temperatures. The summit seemed impossible to achieve, but at any given time what was possible was a step in its direction. Some steps were easier than others, and some were very tough and even painful. But none more impossible than how far the summit appeared. 

I see a parallel in the battle against cancer, a steeper, jagged and more colossal mountain. Every medical breakthrough, helping hand, donation, medication or surgery is a step towards overcoming this tormentor. Sahayta does its best to contribute steps along the way to overcome this overwhelming bane. Every single step matters and can make a difference.

I dedicate my climb to Sahayta and hope you support its noble cause by clicking here [Link: http://www.sahayta.org/donate.html].

Hanima, 16, was one of our youngest members in India when she started volunteering for our organization two years ago. Since then she has put in a lot of time and effort towards our cause - from manning our booths at fundraising events in local schools, to marching hand in hand with survivors at Sahayta rallies to raise awareness about cancer. 

Based on our her commitment to Sahayta in these last two years, and her leadership and maturity beyond her years, we have decided to promote Hanima into the newly created role of Liaison Officer. In this role Hanima will be responsible for all communication and joint projects between the US and India chapters.

Hanima is currently a student of Carmel Convent School Chandigarh. Her hobbies include Indian folk dancing, theater and golf. We wish Hanima the best in her new role!

A packed house and some great comics made our first major fundraiser in New York,  "Comedy For A Cause" a big success. 
We were able to raise enough funds for the treatment of two cancer patients. Since we serve the underprivileged, this helps save not just the patients but also their families. We want to thank everyone who bought tickets to our event and let them know that their gesture will help bring back hope in the lives of ten individuals (two families). 

We will keep you posted about the progress of the two patients that are supported through these funds.

Huge thanks to all the comics - Dan Nainan (host), Alex Carabano, Gibran Saleem, Ashley Brooke Roberts, Sandip Buch, Joel Chasnoff, Rahul Galasamharamoorthy, Narinder Singh and Chis JOnesy Jones. Special shout out to Narinder for helping organize the event.

We have included some pictures from the event below.

Jasmine has been a volunteer for Sahayta over the years and today we are really excited to have her officially join our board. Her extensive non-profit experience and network will be extremely valuable as we expand our activities in the New York.

Bio
Jasmine is passionate about bringing people together and has a long history as a community leader, fundraiser and volunteer for various professional and charitable organizations.  
She is the former Chairperson of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the Network of Indian Professionals.  She has also served as a Community Adviser on a board studying cardiovascular disease in the South Asian diaspora in Northern California.   When she moved to New York in 2004, she established a Meetup Group called "Sikhs in the City", which promotes social, cultural, educational and community service events to Punjabi and Sikh professionals in New York City.  
She is also an active volunteer and fundraiser for SAMAR (the South Asian Marrow Association of Recruiters), and the Sikh Coalition.  
Jasmine has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and an M.S. in Systems Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park.  Her parents emigrated from Punjab to the United States in the late 1960s and she maintains strong cultural and familial ties to India, particularly Chandigarh and Amritsar, which she visits every one to two years.

We are very excited that our annual newsletters are now available on our website! The newsletters are published every July in India and cover all our events & activities from the past one year along with articles from survivors, doctors and other experts. The newsletters can be found under News & Updates tab on our website (also shown in pic below). 

Sharing newsletters online is not only environmentally friendly but also allows us to share our achievements with a much broader audience.

We currently have newsletters available for the past three years (2009-2011) and will be adding more in the near future.

We are excited to announce that Simar Grewal was unanimously elected as the President of the organization in our most recent board meeting. Her leadership, and her commitment to the organization, not just in the US but also in India convinced the board that she is the right choice.

Over the last couple of years, we have targeted individual donors, networked with like minded individuals and groups, and brought on board more leaders who are passionate about making Sahayta as successful in New York as it was in Boston.

We look forward to furthering our cause under Simar’s leadership.