Federation of Indian Associations, Chicago, inducts new leadership

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The Federation of Indian Associations, Chicago (FIA-Chicago) held its annual board meeting and inducted a new board Nov. 1, 2020, at the Chicago Marriott Northwest, Hoffman Estates, IL.

This year the organization unanimously nominated Dr Kamal Patel and members of the new board, a press release from FIA-Chicago, said.

The new executive team for 2021 was also announced.

The event was presided by Founder President Sunil Shah, President Gurmeet Singh, and Founder & Past-President Onkar Sangha.

President-elect Dr Kamal Patel will spearhead the team for the year 2021 with the help of Executive VP(s) Shital Daftari and Vinita Gulabani. Vice President(s): Altaf Bukhari, Pratibha Jairath, Harsh Shah, Hema Shastri & Ashwani Mahajan; General Secretary: Richa Chand; Treasurer: Vaishal Talati; Joint Secretary: Abir Maru; Joint Treasurer: Mukesh Shah; Cultural Secretary: Jatinder Bedi and Joint Cultural Secretary: Ila Chaudhuri; Founding Members & Past Presidents: Neil Khot, Rita Singh, Sunny Kular, Dhitu Bhagwakar, Mukesh Shah. Ninad Daftari; Immediate Past President.

Advisory Board Members include Brij Sharma, Pradeep Shukla, Keerthi Reevori.

The organization also welcomed new Advisory Board Members: Dr Deepak Kant Vyas, Amarbir Ghoman & Vinoz Chanamolu. Advisory Board Members absent were Syed Hussaini, Dr Asha Oroskar, Manish Gandhi, Neil Patel, Smita Shah, Aishwarya Sharma, Jasbir Suga & Pinky Thakkar.Directors: Chetan Patel, Varsha Visal, Vibha Rajput, Sonia Luther, Subbu Iyer, Jessi Singh, Anu and Bharat Malhotra, Jitendra Bulsara, Ashima Washington, Vidya Joshi, Dr Afroz Hafeez, Mamta Taparia and Nirav Patel.

Sunil Shah in his speech welcomed all the Board Members present. Acknowledging the impact of the pendemic, Shah called the meeting to observe a minute of silence for all the people who lost the battle against COVID-19 and their bereaved family members.

New members of the board were introduced. Shah congratulated the current President Gurmeet Singh Dhalwan for a job well done in the midst of extraordinary challenges caused by COVID-19.

The FIA has held successful events, like FEED MY Starving Children Service Event, Republic Day Event with biggest Healthcare medical camp , Indian Heritage Night with Windy City Bulls hosted before this pandemic outbreak and then how FIA hosted its first virtual Yoga Day event and kept the momentum going, while making a positive difference in the community throughout, the press release said.

The organization also held a successful food donation drive for Schaumburg Pantry, and to help needy families by supporting them financially. It also worked closely with the Indian Consul General’s Office, Chicago to get help for several families visiting from India and stranded due to Covid, and not able to pay their bills etc.

The FIA-Chicago also held an impressive 74^th Independence Day of India at Marriott, Hoffman Estates.

Several new FIA-Chicago board members and the President-elect Dr Kamal Patel, gave speeches at the event. Dr. Patel expressed hope and optimism and vowed to take FIA to new heights in the year 2021.

During the meeting, all COVID-19 precautions were taken by the organization to help keep everyone safe at the board meeting, with physical distancing, masks and gloves, with hand sanitizers available at all times.

According to the press release, FIA Chicago “is a 501 (c)(3) status, non-profit umbrella organization of other Indian Associations in the Chicagoland and Mid-West representing in excess of 300,000 culturally diverse but united together Asian-Indians.”

The organization thanked its sponsors and supporters, including media partners Desi Talk in Chicago and its  COO Ilayas Quraishi, as well as other media outlets.