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The Indian Eye
NORTH AMERICAN Newsline AUGUST 21, 2026 21

personnel directly into the community supervising all 40 volunteers. Among Ravinder Kodela, President of personnel, volunteers, community lead-
allows people not only to obtain accu- the young volunteers recognized for NYTTA, attended along with Hari ers, and guests throughout the event.
rate information but, more important- their dedicated service were Bhairavi Charan Bobbili and other NYTTA
ly, to receive practical assistance with Khanna, Gia Anand, Alissa Sondhi, members. Kalpita Pandya Pareek Appreciation
their individual consular needs. Angelina Uppal, and Jaskaran Singh. represented the Brahmin commu- The American Punjabi Society,
Prem Bhandari, President of Bhairavi Khanna showed particu- nity/Brahmin Society. Other com- together with supporting organiza-
RANA and Chairman of Jaipur Foot lar compassion toward senior citizens munity leaders attending included tions RANA, BRUHUD New York
USA, said that when the Consulate with mobility difficulties. When she Dr. Krishna Kumar, Govind Munjal, Seniors, and Jaipur Foot USA, ex-
and community organizations work saw seniors using walkers who could Satnam Singh Parhar, Nilima Madan, pressed sincere appreciation to Am-
together in a genuine spirit of service, not comfortably stand in line or wait Indu Gajwani, Shyam Gajwani, Bee- bassador Binaya Srikanta Pradhan
the community is the ultimate benefi- at the Help Desk, she went directly na Kothari, Jasbir Jai Singh, Pradeep and the entire CGI team; participating
ciary. He noted that the tremendous to them, listened to their needs, and Tandon, Kalpita Pandya Parikh, and VFS personnel; participating religious
response demonstrated the impor- helped bring the necessary assistance Harish Thakkar, among others. and community organizations; APS
tance of bringing consular services, to them. Among the youngest volun- leadership, Women’s Council, Youth
assistance, and accurate guidance di- teers were Pearl Sikka and her friend APS leadership and hospitality Wing and Advisory Board; the two
rectly to the people. Bela, who helped welcome attendees APS leadership participating in Notaries Public; community leaders;
Ajay Patel, President of BRUHUD and enter registration information. the initiative included Harry S. Bolla, and especially the 40 young volunteers.
New York Seniors, supported the Patron; Gary S. Sikka, Global Presi- Above all, the organizers and sup-
initiative and its objective of mak- Notary, religious and dent & CEO; Mohinder S. Taneja, Se- porting organizations thanked the 542
ing consular services and assistance community participation nior Vice President; VPS Sikka, Gen- community members who attended.
more accessible to the community. Two Notaries Public — Eric Ku- eral Secretary; and Vice Presidents The extraordinary response — with
mar, a member of the APS Advisory Paul S. Bindra, Ajay Vir Sondhi, Ravin- people lining up an hour before the
Forty young APS volunteers Board, and Jessica Kalra, a member derpal S. Narang, and Jaspal S. Arora. scheduled opening, attendees travel-
lead by example of the APS Women’s Council — were Navneet S. Sondhi, APS Wom- ing from several states, and CGI and
One of the most inspiring aspects available to assist community members. en’s Council Chair, and her team VFS personnel continuing to provide
of the camp was the participation of The camp attracted participation played an active role throughout the services until approximately 4:00 PM
40 APS youth volunteers between the from numerous religious, cultural, re- program, while Janessa Sondhi coor- — reaffirmed the need for commu-
ages of 12 and 17. The young volun- gional, and community organizations. dinated the youth volunteers. nity-based consular outreach and the
teers welcomed attendees, assisted Among those participating or repre- Pradeep Tandon, APS Director value of collaboration among CGI,
with registration, entered information sented were Maninder Singh Sethi, of Media & Public Relations, played APS, RANA, BRUHUD New York
into spreadsheets, directed people Chairman of the Glen Cove Gurd- an active role before and during the Seniors, Jaipur Foot USA, VFS, and
to the appropriate service areas and wara; Harpreet Singh Vohra, Vice camp, including responding to numer- the broader community.
Help Desk, maintained an orderly President of the Hicksville Gurdwara; ous telephone inquiries from commu- Most importantly, the success
flow, and provided individual assis- Govind Bhatija of AsaMai Temple; nity members seeking information of the camp demonstrated the value
tance wherever needed. and representatives and leaders asso- about the program and the consular of bringing actual consular services
Janessa Sondhi, Director of ciated with Gujarati Samaj, the Hindu services available at the camp. directly to the community, enabling
Youth Development for APS, took Center, NYTTA, TLCA, and other Breakfast and Pearl were provided people to receive assistance with their
the leading role in coordinating and community organizations. by Pearl for attendees, CGI and VFS individual cases.

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