Gift of Life USA, a 501 (C) (3) non-profit organization, founded by Paresh, Flora and Dr. Harshil Parekh to help specially-abled and nurture acceptance and empathy, bridging the gap across the various communities that form our society, celebrated its ninth annual gala advocating Schizophrenia and BiPolar this past weekend at an evening filled with inspiring speakers, entertainment and opportunities to make a difference in our community. The event was gracefully emceed by Dr. Harshil Parekh and Akash Patel and had a full house with representation from several organizations and community leaders.
Michelle Hammer, living with Schizophrenia and entrepreneur of mental health-focused clothing brand Schizophrenic.NYC, inspired the audience with her story of being diagnosed with schizophrenia at 22 after a misdiagnosis of bipolar at age 18. She is a schizophrenia activist and spends her time passionately fighting stigma by starting conversations about mental health.
John & Barbara McNamara, CFO and Director of SMILE, Support My Independent Life, support about 200 individuals with developmental disabilities and their families to live self-directed lives.
The event started with an in-depth overview of the organization’s introduction and program details by Dr. Bhavani Srinivasan followed by rocking band performance by Down syndrome and autistic FREE Drum players, followed by recognizing the youth leadership of Dr. Harshil Parekh for his dedicated and continued vision and mission to serve the community and humanity.
Gift of Life USA members with Down’s Syndrome and autistic FREE Drum players
Poetess Tejal A. Desai enchanted the audience by her beautiful poem recital dedicated to her mom and was recognized as a Youth role model and her upcoming prelaunch of book of poems.
A mesmerizing performance by Dominican Dance Group followed next. The highlight of the event was a live dance workshop of several dance forms led by Shilpa Jhurani of RS International NYC.
Directors Kalpana Patel, Kamlesh & Mrudula Parekh, Shashi Malik, Mrs. Purnima & Tejal Desai, Dr. Bhavani Srinivasan, Sheetal and Jasmin Pathak, Dr. Harshil Parekh, Akash Patel as well as founders Paresh and Flora Parekh welcomed and thanked several organizational presidents, community leaders, sponsors, supporters, well-wishers for their continued support year over year. Directors Mayur Dalal and Amarish Kachhy shared their remote wishes and blessings. Kaul Photography covered great event memories.
In a landscape often marked by monotonous programs, the ability of Gift of Life USA to infuse creativity and uniqueness into the Gala was duly noticed and complimented by community leaders.
Apart from combating social stigma by raising awareness about different disorders, the true strength of Gift of Life USA lies in the funding and support it gives to individuals with these various physical and mental disorders. The organization functions with generous donations from the community and is operated by volunteers.
For more info and ways to support visit www.giftoflifeus.org
