Anoopa Sharma

During the recent holidays Dennis and members of his
family visited the girls’ School (Amar Chand Kanya
Inter College) in Atrauli, India and met with the
School Manager, the Principal and the Director of a
Non-Profit Organization (Samaj Seva Samiti, through
which funds will be transferred to the school) to
visit the project site and discuss the next steps in
start-up of the project of refurbishing the school
with much needed facilities.

The School Manager has submitted a proposal for the
construction and establishing a library, a computer
room and a lecture room – all located contiguously
with partitions that can be opened to make a big hall
to accommodate larger groups for school functions. The
cost of the proposal is Rs. 19.4 lakhs (US$43,000) of
which school will contribute Rs. 3.69 lakhs ($8,200),
and thus requesting $34,800 from Anoopa Sharma
Memorial Funds. The School Manager informed us that
the construction can begin in March and will be
completed by October 2006. He plans to send me a
construction and payments schedule. Once I get this I
will be sending all of the proceeds from the Anoopa
Sharma Memorial Fund (Approx. $10,000) as the first
payment to begin the first phase of the construction,
i.e., procurement of all of the construction
materials.

During the meeting, Dennis raised the issue of
competitive and transparent procurements to reduce
costs and potential audit of the expenditures. The
School Manager gave his word that he will do his best
to keep all of the records so any contributor can come
and check the records.

Based on the above cost estimates, an additional sum
of $24,800 are needed ASAP to commit to the project.
Sharma Family will contribute $10,000 for the project.
The balance of $14,800 must be raised through the
website or other campaigns. We request everyone’s
assistance and cooperation to succeed in this project.

On a parallel track Sharmas have filed papers with the
IRS to establish a not-for-profit organization –
Anoopa Sharma Children Foundation. We will post it on
the net as soon as we get the IRS approval so people
can make tax deductible contribution to the
organization. Thank you.

Best wishes in the New Year!