Saturday 27th February 2016 – The Madison Function Centre – Dural
Sri Om Foundation put on a spectacular show to launch their new concept – Long day and short term overnight respite. Most of the project specifics had been under wraps and was unveiled to the public in grand style.
The event was held in front of a strong crowd with a good mix of government delegates, business personnel, community groups, service providers and the general public. There was great hospitality from the team at Madison who served up an excellent dinner, which was very well appreciated by the capacity crowd that exceeded 150 guests. Special guests included Hon. Michelle Rowland – Shadow minister for citizenship and multiculturalism, Mr. Steve Teulan – Director of Uniting NSW and ACT, Hornsby Councilor Mr. Gurdeep Singh, Sevinc Izmirli from PICAC NSW and Anne Kalra – Aged care services manager from Uniting Care.
The evening started with the traditional lighting of the lamp. One of Sri Om’s long term supporter and senior, Mrs. Vijayalakshmi Vijayaraghavan, had the honor of lighting whilst Ms. Nitya Ramaswamy recited a short welcoming prayer.
Sri Om’s People’s relations director, Ms. Arundathi Raghavan, welcomed the guests and provided a detailed overview and plans for the night. Her enthusiasm and choice of words on stage made the guests feel comfortable throughout the night.
There was a good mix of entertainment provided on the night with the ever charming Mr. Vinod Rajput, who mixed it up with acoustics, solo vocal and duet performances. The children from Meenaxi’s Dance Group provided a couple of astonishing dance performances which was very well received by the respectable audience.
Sri Om’s Chairperson HH Sri Om Adisakthiyendra Swamigal sent his apologies for being unavailable for the event but provided a message to the community which was read out by the Vice President – Mr. Jay Raman. His message stressed the importance of the community working in unity to provide selfless service to the needy. He also highlighted the progress made by the organisation over the last 10 years and was humbled by the positive support from everyone in the community.
Honorable Michelle Rowland MP, spoke about the great work that Sri Om have been doing for the past 10 years and individually congratulated every director and staff at Sri Om. She made special mention about the professionalism and transparency of Sri Om and said it is rare to find amongst community organisations. Keeping political allegiances aside, she requested the public to “keep aged care high on the agenda when going to the polls, as in the next 5 years, 1 in 3 elderly citizens will be born outside of Australia”.
The highlight of the evening was then kicked off by Sri Om’s Ms. Arundathi Raghavan and Mr. Srini Vasudevan (Director – Learning and Development), who walked through the concept of Long day care and short term overnight respite. The project proposal and plans to make it reality were discussed in detail through an eye-catching presentation, passionate dialogs and a breath taking video that showcased Sri Om’s abilities to deliver the project.
Ms. Raghavan echoed the need to get public financial support of $500,000 to deliver on this program and said “donations are tax deductible. If we get everyone in this room to just donate $1000, we would already be about 40 percent there”. Mr. Vasudevan expressed the importance of Sri Om in the community and how the community can work together to deliver this. He said “It is Karma and what goes around comes around. We are actually doing this for ourselves more than anyone. We will end up being the care receivers in due time”. Both the presenters iterated that “now is the time to act and tonight is the night to make it all happen”.
Mr. Raman Bhalla, an accountant, independent financial planner and former NSW Liberal Party candidate, spoke about Sri Om’s services and the governance and transparency of the organisation. He mentioned lenders and venture capitalists always look for certain aspects of a business for it to succeed and that “Sri Om ticks all of those boxes.
The crowd was privileged to receive some wise words from Mr. Steve Teulan, Director for Uniting. He mentioned about the wonderful relationship between Sri Om and Uniting and that he has high expectations and is confident in the success of the proposal put by Sri Om.
The evening ended with a question and answer session from the enlightened audience and then a networking session amongst the group. The program was very well received by the public and the overall consensus was to work hard together to make this project a reality. The team at Sri Om sends out a hearty appreciation for everyone who was able to attend and provided their support. We encourage the public to get in touch with us at info@sriomcare.org.au for more information.
If you wish to donate, please visit our website at sriomcare.org.au/donate/ or you can send it by EFT to
Name: Sri Om Foundation, BSB: 124 001, Account Number: 21817712. Ensure to send us an email if you wish to donate through EFT so a tax receipt can be provided.
Please note all donations over $2 are tax deductible.