Annual art competition for children organized by Menlo Park Lions Club in New Jersey

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‘Love, Peace and Harmony’ art competition was organized by Menlo Park Lions Club 16 J on February 23, 2019, at Minnie B Veal Community Center, in Edison, New Jersey.

The Menlo Park Lions Club was founded in 2014 and since then the club is organizing the annual competition for children.

This activity was introduced by Charter President, Lion Varsha Naik. Since then every year it is organized in the month of February as an Valentine’s Day activity for children.

Club President Lion Prashant Karnik and now Secretary Lion Varsha Naik, with their core team decided to serve children, said the organizers, in a press release.

“The response was overwhelming. We had 100 kids take part in the biggest such art competition in New Jersey,” said Naik.

This was a fundraising event for the club and every year the club has decided to sponsor graduation for one hearing impaired child.

The competition was held in four groups. Sangeeta Bhagat and Medha Kulkarni were the judges for the contest.

The following participants were declared as winners:

Group 1 (3 to 5 years) –  Aashray Neelamkavil, Ira Shree.

Group 2 (5 to 8 years) – Aaroh Sarpotdar, Riddhma Gupta.

Group 3 (8 to 12 Years) – Sourish Kumrawat, Debduti Chattergiee.

Group 4 (12 to 16 Years) – Kaitlyn Thomas, Prisha Maggu.

Best Art  – Sanika Godbole

Naik spoke about Lions Club and the story behind introducing this activity five years ago.  Karnik spoke about the need of awareness within young children about love, peace and harmony. He also mentioned that young brains perceive same information and interpret it differently.

One of the ways for children to showcase their thoughts is through art. He appealed to all the children and their parents to spread the word among their friends, families, and communities for participating in this event next year. He also mentioned that there is a need of organizing these types of competitions all over the world.

District Governor Lion Armando Guerra, CC Lion Mahesh Chitnis, about 20 club members and volunteers from other organization made this event very successful.

Treasurer Lion Pratibha Nichkawade thanked all the participants and their parents, at the meet.