The danger in doing profiles of donors is that we will run out of energy long before the list is complete. There have been so many people supporting us for so long that it is difficult to know where to begin. What’s certain is that there is really no place to end.

Kanwarjit Chawla is a civil engineer and the owner of a large construction company in New Delhi. He is also Moy Moy’s godfather and the uncle of a child with a mental handicap. He has helped us in more ways than we can count – from buying calendars to putting us in touch with people we should know, from hosting our meetings in Delhi to taking photographs for our calendar, from advising us on architects to building us a balcony – the list is truly endless.

Margaret and Brian McNeill Margaret is Jo’s sister (her name at home is Moy Moy and it is after her that our Moy is named). As an adopted child herself, Margaret has a special place in her heart for those who are vulnerable. She and her husband Brian have been steady and lavish donors to the Foundation – on several occasions, they have rescued us from near ruin. It was their gift which allowed us to buy the land on which we intend to build. According to them, “one of the things about having a lot of money is getting to share it.”

Mary McGowan/Tom Synan Mary is another of Jo’s sisters – she and her husband Tom have not only donated generously themselves since day one – they have introduced us to a whole fleet of their friends who have all become faithful supporters too. They have held fundraisers for us in their backyard, given us medical advice whenever required and, most important, they are the ones who brought Moy Moy into our lives. For that gift, we are forever indebted.

Yasmeen and Azim Premji are old and dear friends. Yasmeen and Jo’s husband Ravi met while they were both studying in the United States back in the late sixties. They stayed in touch over the years and Yasmeen became godmother to Jo and Ravi’s first child. On their frequent visits to their home in Mumbai, Jo and Ravi also became good friends with Azim’s mother, an orthopedic surgeon and the founder of the Children’s Orthopedic Hospital, one of the finest centres in Asia for kids with physical disabilities. The Premjis have been generous contributors to Karuna Vihar from its earliest days and were particularly helpful during a recent financial crisis.

Deepak and Amita Mehra – the friends we’ve never met! The Mehras came to us in the most round-about, unlikely way: Amita’s brother, Atul Sethi, is a sub-contractor to Kanwarjit Chawla (see above). Kanwarjit sent him the calendar and when Deepak said he wanted to donate something to a good cause, Atul suggested us. Through emails over the years, we became friends with the Mehras and their generous contributions – sight unseen – have continued to astonish us year after year. But it was in 2006 that they really came through for us. A financial crisis had us all in a panic. In spite of having just received a large donation from the Mehras, we had the temerity to ask them for more. Not only did they give again, but they inspired an army of their friends to do likewise. None of them could refuse – “If Deepak and Amita tell us to do it,” Vandana Malik explained, “how could we possibly say no?" The most wonderful thing about this story is that the Mehras daughter Piya, a young woman just starting her career, was also moved to make a large donation, renewing our hope in the young on whom the future depends.

P K Mehta is the reason Jo and Ravi met in the first place (but that’s another story!). P K has been one of our staunchest supporters over the years, believing in us and the power of our work even more fervently than we do ourselves. He has supported us financially, emotionally and spiritually for as long as we have known him. We owe him more than we can ever express.

Nutan and Arun Gupta – Ravi’s sister and brother-in-law – have been devoted and generous contributors from our earliest days. On Arun’s last trip to India, just months before his sudden and tragic death at the age of 53, he saw the state of our computers and promptly went out and bought us three new ones. At their home in Connecticut, they frequently held fund-raising events for us, and their wide circle of family and friends are now among our most loyal supporters. On Nutan’s last visit here, she toured all our projects, gave us her blessing and then wrote out a check for $25,000.

Shrikumar Poddar has been another loyal and devoted friend for many years. A Bombay based philanthropist and social activist, Shrikumar is an enabler. He provides support exactly when it is needed, without asking questions or considering his own convenience.  In buying bulk orders of our calendar, he has always managed to broaden our base of donors still further by sending it out with an appeal letter of his own, so that we get the sale to him as well as donations from the people he “gives” it to.

J R D Tata Trust recently astonished us by awarding the foundation a grant of half a million dollars. This branch of the Tatas is refreshing in its faith in good work. While professional in its approach and clear about its priorities, the J R D Tata Trust still retains an old-fashioned belief in people which is unusual in the new corporate era of giving. The grant will allow us to develop as a Resource Centre for the state of Uttarakhand – something desperately needed in this most-underserved area. We are grateful for and humbled by their trust in us.

Sir Ratan Tata Trust We have received enormous support from the Trust since our first grant in 1997.  That was a small amount for our fledgling awareness campaign, but the relationship began there and has flourished ever since, in spite of the occasional difference in communication styles! Because of the Trust, we have, of course, been able to deliver a wide range of high-quality services to the children and community members we work with. But we have also grown professionally in a variety of interesting ways. Staff members have been able to attend seminars, workshops and training programs in many parts of the country, thus improving their skills to an unprecedented degree, and we have also been able to call eminent professionals to Dehradun for training through which the entire Foundation has benefited. The Trust’s strict and consistent requirements for regular reviews, reports and analysis of our work have been an excellent discipline. The simple exercise of gathering data and documenting our activities has improved our planning and functioning. While results have always been important to us, we are now systematic in our approach to achieving them and critical in evaluating them.  

Heart and Hand for the Handicapped The first grant we received from Heart and Hand arrived, coincidentally, on Valentine’s Day. It came out of the blue, unexpected, unrequested, unbelievable. It seemed like a gift from heaven and coming on the feast-day of love just added to its mysterious charm. We found out later it was Deepak and Amita Mehra (see above) who had recommended us to them, but it has always retained its image in our minds of an organization perfectly named: one which works magic with hearts to love and hands to work.

Bob and Linda Fuller Bob and Linda are friends of Margaret and Brian McNeill’s and they have been generous supporters of our work for several years. On one of Jo’s trips to the US, she met Bob for the first time when he invited her out for lunch, along with Moy Moy and her older sister Cathleen. He was so moved by both girls that he wrote out a large check right then and there – in-between the soup and the salad.

Martha and Tom Rose Martha is Jo’s oldest friend – dating back to 5th grade. She holds a doctorate in the field of special education and has been an important guide in our growth as educators. She has advised us on professional societies we should join, books we should purchase and even films we should get our hands on. In addition to contributing generously themselves, Martha and Tom have taken on the task of collecting checks for us in the United States and sending them on to the group which provides our American donors with a tax deduction.