Kashmiri Overseas Association, Inc.

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Sep 01 2010

2010 East Coast Camp

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The organizing team of this year’s KOA east coast camp would like to thank all the members, who attended the camp, for their participation. Hope you all had a good time. For those who were not able to attend this year, following are the highlights of the camp held at the Roaring Brook Ranch & Resort, Lake George, NY:

Attendees: Almost 300 people attended this camp including families from FL, LA, TX, CA, India, and Canada.
Record pledges: The Annual General Body Meeting was held with the entire executive team of the KOA present. The President shared the “state of the organization” with the attendees and three new KOA sponsored programs were presented; Kashmir Shaivism, Aman Movement, and Save Kashmiri Heritage. Approximately $63,000 was pledged by the donors. Of significance, we had many first time donors. In addition, 22 families paid their KOA annual membership dues at the camp.
Musical Extravaganza: Professional singers, Asha Kaul, Anurag Harsh and Archana Jalali mesmerized the audience with their tantalizing songs. The fact that these concerts went as late as 2:30AM on each day speaks volumes of how thoroughly folks must have enjoyed.
Entrepreneurship Seminar: Sh. Rattan Khosa conducted this workshop for our young kids, and it was an instant hit. We hope we have many entrepreneurs in the making.
Kids Scholarships: Khosa Foundation sponsored these scholarships. Three age categories were defined and each one had to write on site: 7 to 9 years (write up and drawings related to Kashmiri temples), 10 to 12 years (write up limited to 400 words on Kashmiri history), and 13 to 15 years (a 500 word write up on Kashmiri Hindu saints). The judges were overwhelmed by the quality, prompting them to donate additional money so that every participant received $100-$200.
Kids sports and cultural activities: Water slide, moon bounce and dunk tank was available for kids to play for all three days and kids had a blast. The participating kids in the cultural activities delighted the audience with their performances.
Youth Scholarship Program: Three college bound kids in the United States, Akansha Ganju, Iha Kaul and Sidanth Sapru were announced the winners of this year’s youth scholarship award of $500 each.
T-shirts with mantra inscribed: Not a single shirt was left unsold.
Souvenir: A kenzya khos and Thaal were given to all registered families.
First time introduction of Omkar Naad: The CD includes almost hundreds of Mantras of Yantra, several worship, Stotras, Sootras and Stutees which are at the verge of extinction.
Young adults and young professionals activities: Nightly campfires and poker/flash games, a cooking class for beginners and those looking to update their current skills was held as were mini-mentoring sessions where young volunteers shared a meal with middle school, high school and college-aged kids to talk about the college admissions process, the college experience, finding a job in today’s market, relationships, etc.
Food: The feedback thus far is that the food was of excellent quality and we had surplus supplies for each meal. The variety was extensive.