As part of its ongoing efforts towards spreading the good word about Sankara Nethralaya by gaining a larger mind space and foothold among the Indian milieu in the USA, the SN OM Trust the fund raising arm of Sankara Nethralaya participated in two immensely popular events among its target audience, the annual conference of the Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America (FeTNA) and the “India Abroad” “Person of the year” ceremony. Participation at the FeTNA 2014 held at the Chaifety Arena, Saint Louis, Missouri State on 20th June 2014 helped in reaching out the Sankara Nethralaya newsletter to 5000+ members of the association across the USA and the one page appeal made in the souvenir released on the occasion to 1,400 members who attended the conference. In-depth presentation of Sankara Nethralaya’s history, growth, philosophy, goals, achievements in various areas and a fervent appeal to donate were made by Mr. Nahush and Mr. Vikram good friends and well wishers of the institution and Dr Robert Churchill from the University of Missouri, Sankara Nethralaya’s partner in collaborative research. SN OM Trust member Singer Prabhu’s mellifluous voice and crisp appeal won many hearts from the 1,400 strong audience and assurances to organize charity shows for Sankara Nethralaya’s cause from more than 10 Sangam presidents present at the venue.
Participation in the high profile ‘Person of the Year’ award ceremony conducted by Rediff.com and “India Abroad’ helped in showcasing Sankara Nethralaya to a large gathering of high profile and high net worth Indians gathered at the “The Pierre- A Taj Hotel’ at New York for the high power event. While the screening of the appeal made by Shri Amitabh Bachchan’ at the venue took Sankara Nethralaya’s story to the large gathering at the venue, the interview of Dr SS.Badrinath published in the special issue of ‘India Abroad’ reached out to its large reader base. The SN OM trust would also get 6 pages of advertisement space in the ‘India Abroad’ paper for year 2014 under the agreement of participation in the event.