Indian Bazaar, a fundraising event for the India Cultural Center (ICC) of Utah raised a net of $18.5K towards the ICC building construction. The event reinforced the fact that ‘desi’ (people of Indian origin) love to have a good time and support cause related events.
The Spring weather brought in showers that week and we were hoping and praying it would not pour that evening. Mother nature was on our side the evening turned out to be the perfect balmy weather for a patio party. The folks at Noah’s were so kind and helpful in making the perfect arrangements for the party; the DJ set up his sound and light system early on; the bartenders started serving the guests at around 7 PM and got the party started. The guests started flowing in, the appetizers being served, the music pumping, everything just came together.
The event was not just a dance party, the team that put this together had a bigger purpose, which was to raise a significant amount towards the ICC building construction. Sure enough we made a pitch to the attendees to contribute generously and requested them to sponsor the India Map Block project which would go into the building. In this scheme the ICC was offering blocks for a $1000 sponsorship each on which the donors name would be printed as a permanent part of the center. We had a goal of selling 10 blocks but we ended up raising 15. Yayyy! It was a pretty amazing feeling and a sense of accomplishment for a cause that’s greater than ourselves!
We had the support of many wonderful people both from the Indian community and the local community. Dr.Dinesh Patel and Mrs.Kalpana Patel have been the prima donors of the India Cultural Center and are ever willing to give of their time and efforts towards a number of causes in the local and global communities. We are very grateful for your support!
The food at the event was a sumptuous spread of Indian cuisine complete with a chaat (Indian street foods) station. The appetizers were corn pakoras, served with mint and tamarind chutneys, and hariyali kababs. Teh main course was a paneer (cottage cheese) in spinach sauce, malai chicken curry and vegetable korma. We has sides of naan and pulao. The dessert was a tri color pumpkin halva representing the colors of Indian flag. It was pretty delicious and as very cute to look at!
The party ended at midnight but it was 2 PM when we left the place. It was a fun event for a great cause. Happy to have been a part of the organizing team!