Sam Kannappan, looked upon as the pillar of the Indian community in Houston, U.S., and Vice-President of the SN OM Trust, visited Sankara Nethralaya on June 3, 2009. Mr. Kannappan met Dr. Badrinath and other doctors during his visit.
Accompanying Mr. Kannappan during his visit were Gopal Anantha and video photographer Soundarapandian,who are making a documentary on Mr. Kannappan.
Mr. Kannappan helped organize the Houston-leg of the T.N. Krishnan benefit concert, which was held in 10 U.S. cities last year, to help raise funds for SN.
Founder of the Bharathi Kalai Manram, a Tamil language and cultural organisation, Mr. Kannappan is also the co-founder of the Sri Meenakshi Temple in Pearland, Texas.
Last year, Sam Kannappan was made the Texas Advisory Board member for the prestigious Asia Society. Known for rallying the Indian community to lend support to a number of causes, Mr. Kannappan was instrumental, as Chairman of India’s Disaster Relief Committee, in getting an additional approval of $10 million from U.S. lawmakers for the 2001 Gujarat earthquake relief. He also coordinated with Indo-American organizations to raise $230,000 for the 9/11 victims.