Seasons Greetings to all our members
As the Holiday Season draws near we extend our greetings to those of our community who celebrate Christmas. As we have in the past, we are pleased to hold our annual ISW Christmas Celebration, details are below. The Christmas messages of peace and hope are universal and we all share in the joy of this season of giving. We also remember those less fortunate who have struggled through the pandemic that has swept through the country. The ISW Cultural School is conducting its annual Giving Tree where you can support families in need. In addition, we are also collecting Toys for Shrewsbury Youth and Family Services. If you would like to support these causes contact school@iswonline.org
Let us join together in celebration and hope for a brighter tomorrow. Merry Christmas!
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Recognizing our Donors
The ISW India Center will have a prominent Donor Wall to recognize the numerous community members who's generous contributions have made this significant addition to the center possible. Click on the video to take a closer look at the levels of support. Its is not too late to add your name to the wall or to move your donation to a higher level. Please click the donate link to become part of the India Center family. https://iswonline.org/Donate
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2020 ISW Christmas Celebration
Saturday, December 19th, 2020
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Once again it's the time of the year for the annual ISW Christmas Celebration which will have an unique format for 2020!
Saturday morning from 9 to 11 am: An unique Drive-in Children's Gift Giving will be held at the ISW India Center. Please pre-register your children on the ISW Website to drive by and get their gift. Children up to 10 years old (KG to 5th Grade) are welcome. Gift delivery will be strictly non contact and in keeping with latest CDC guidelines.
Saturday evening from 6 to 7:30 pm: An Indian style Christmas Celebration will be held online including Christmas Carols in many Indian languages, the Christmas Story, recognition of work in the Indian community during the Covid crisis and, of course, a live chat with Santa on Zoom! Don't forget to register at the ISW Website.
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ISW Annual General Body Meeting
Sunday, January 31, 2021, 2 pm
The ISW Annual General Body Meeting will be held on January 31st, 2021 at the ISW India Center. The date is subject to change based on COVID-related restrictions and construction schedule at India Center.
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SAYAA Group Meeting Update
A group of ISW’s SAYAA members met online on Friday, December 4th from 8-9 pm. They printed out prewritten letters from the non-profit Vote Forward website. The letters had voting information addressed to registered voters in Georgia. Volunteers were encouraged to send non-partisan messages that focused on exercising one’s voice.
Research has shown that a “warm and neighborly” note can be just the thing to cut through all the political noise. Letter writing has been shown to increase voter turnout and is considered to be one of the most effective tactics to boost voting. This year, the non-profit Vote Forward says, it inspired more than 182,000 people to send more than 17 million personalized letters encouraging others to exercise their rights. SAYAA members made their contribution by sending out over 60 letters that were mailed by Monday, December 7th to ensure they reached their destinations in time!
To join future events & projects send an email to sayaa@iswonline.org
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Navigating the college application process
January 23rd, 2021, 3:30 to 5:00 pm
by Mayank Jaiswal & Poonam Hingorany
The challenge in college admissions isn’t just getting children admitted to a school that best fits their potential and interests, but also managing this process with minimal stress and financial concerns.
To help ISW Parents and students manage the many moving parts of the college application process we will hold two 90 minute information sessions that will address some of issues like school grades, standardized tests, essays, extracurriculars, and financials. The sessions will introduce families to the mechanics of the process and also how to ensure their children's wellbeing throughout. Parents with children ranging from the middle school to high school will find this of interest. Topics will include insights into the application process, how to plan on saving for college, and helping students and families navigate the application process. We hope to offer insight into a Stress-Free College Application Process.
The first session will be on January 23rd, 2021 from 3:30 pm-5:00 pm. It will consist of a 45 minute presentation followed by group discussion led by Mayank Jaiswal, Facilitator and Shubh Agrawal with a parents panel comprising of Poonam & Sanjay Hingorany, Snehlata & Jagan Srinivasan, Ramendra & Ruchi Chauhan. Please send any questions to collegeconnect@iswonline.org. We hope to create a network of parents and students to support each other in this process.
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Pre-Register for Free Flu shot @ ISW HealthStop
ISW Health Stop will be offering Free flu shots to the community member. Due to limited supply we will are requesting everyone to pre-register so we can plan the drive-thru flu shot clinic. Please use the link here for pre registration. Click to register for flu clinic
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Back Issues of ISW eSandesh newsletter
If you have missed a previous issue of eSandesh or just joined, you can find and archive of past issues here. Enjoy! As always your feedback and contributions welcome.
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ISW CULTURAL & LANGUAGE SCHOOL NEWS
ISW School News
ISW students were treated to a craft workshop led by guest teacher, Rekha Ratan, where they made a Winter Snowman. We hope the parents and students enjoyed the session. Former Tamil language students Brianna Michael, a freshman at Assumption College; Arianna Michael , Junior at Shrewsbury High School; and Ryan Michael, a freshman at Shrewsbury High School shared the Christmas story as part of the cultural session on Sunday.
ISW Tutoring Match Program
Looking for Homework Help? The ISW Tutoring Match Program is getting ready for the 4th round of matching. If you have a student who is interested in being a volunteer teacher or if you are looking for homework help for your child, please email tutoring@iswonline.org
Mansi Gera, Krishnaa Amin, Shubh Agrawal, Ruchi Chauhan & Shiamin Melville
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A Chat with a local but global employer from Shrewsbury
by Ragoo Raghunathan
Living in the suburbs of Boston, we may not realize that there are plenty of organizations right here near our India Society of Worcester that are in the biotech, pharma, IT, medical and digital healthcare industries. We recently talked to Spencer Streeter from Charles River Labs based in Shrewsbury about their invaluable role in pre-clinical trials for drug development and the many areas they are actively hiring even in these Covid times. Read the interview on our website here!
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SANKALP 2021 Kickoff Concert
Sankalp is excited to present renowned Bollywood celebrities Govinda, Alka Yagnik and others to raise funds in support of Ekal Schools and respond to the COVID-19 emergency
January 1st, 6:30 pm EST and January 2nd , 7 pm IST
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Ho Ho Ho - Merry Christmas
by Pravin Trivedi
Going to college in England introduced the author to British traditions for Christmas including a very unlikely source of employment and welcome income for a penurious student. Find out what kept him in the money spreading cheer during the holidays. Read the rest of the story on our website.
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Grafton Open Space and Recreation Plan
by Mimi Kaplan
The town of Grafton will be holding a virtual open forum on December 17th at 7 pm to solicit public input and feedback on open space and recreation opportunities and facilities in Grafton. Residents are encouraged to attend and offer their opinions and suggestions for what they would like to see in Town in regards to parks, recreational programs, trails, walking or biking paths, habitat preservation, etc. If you are a resident of Grafton, we encourage you to participate and make your voice heard. Meeting will be held on Zoom at HTTPS://ZOOM.US/J/91624475508 Click here for more info.
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Tips for Year End Giving
Kelly A. Stimson, Greater Worcester Community Foundation (GWCF)
We share some tips from our partners at GWCF as you might consider year end charitable giving. In a turbulent year with unexpected surprises and challenges, there is a bright spot for you to make the most of these uncommon circumstances with your charitable giving. The 2020 CARES Act passed in March provides additional benefits for charitable giving before the year-end.
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Tip: For individuals who take the standard deduction, the Act allows you to deduct an additional $300 for cash contributions to public charities.
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Tip: For individuals who itemize deductions, the Act suspends the adjusted gross income limitation for charitable contributions of cash.
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Tip: Initiate gifts of qualified appreciated stock or wire transfers as soon as possible. The date of your gift is recorded as of the date the funds are received via wire or the postmark date on a mailed check.
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Tip: This year provides a unique opportunity to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA and simultaneously gift cash to a public charity, thus offsetting the income tax liability of your Roth Conversion by taking this one-time maximum deduction for cash gifts in 2020.
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Tip: Given the uncertainty around future tax policy, it’s the right time to consider blended gifts. The timing of multiple gifts, including maximizing cash giving in 2020 plus potential tax and capital gains savings in 2021 by granting qualified, appreciated stock is an option to consider right now.
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Westboro Rotary Club Recycling Challenge
by Sharad Mehta, Chair, Community on the Environment (COTE)
smehta01581@gmail.com
Westborough Rotary Club, COTE, has launched a drive to collect bags and film plastics from community members. While in ubiquitous use, these materials are particularly hard to recycle because it is tough to make a business case for collecting and recycling them commercially. Our goal is to collect 500 lbs for bag and film plastics by May 5th, 2021 as part of the TREX Plastic Film Recycling Challenge. If successful, the Trex company will donate a park bench to Westboro. We have reached about 10% of our goal to date. Details of the project are described in a Community Advocate article.
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Contact Information
India Society of Worcester
Mailing Address: PO Box 136, Shrewsbury, MA 01545
Answering Machine: 508-842-9795
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