In 1991 when Hiranandani Gardens was just a fledgling township with a scant population and hardly any facilities, Rotary Club of Bombay East decided to sow the seed of Rotary in Powai by sponsoring a new club in this virgin locality. Thus was born Rotary Club of Bombay Powai ….chartered on March 11th, 1991.
It was the year when at the helm of Rotaray International was our own Rtn Raja Saboo ….. the second RI President from India. District Governor of our Dist 3140 was Rtn. Bedi. Leading the newly formed club was Charter President Rtn Mukund Ranade.
This was a community just evolving, the fellowship was marked by camaraderie and the Club was the center of all activities in the newly emerging Hiranandani Gardens. What started three decades back as a group of few likeminded friends getting together with the objective of fellowship & service has grown today to be a 70+ member strong vibrant club. Today it is one of the most active Clubs in North-eastern part of Mumbai, devoted to service and fellowship for the last 31years.
In its long journey of three decades, RC Bombay Powai has garnered immense popularity & respect in the local community for serving the weaker section of the society through their service projects touching every aspect of their life, be it education, health & hygiene, livelihood and any other. It’s not just the service projects but also the wide variety of community projects & activities initiated, undertaken and implemented by the club in and around it’s home base that has helped in creating a strong presence & identity of RC Bombay Powai.
In this three decades long journey we have created several partners in service like the Rotaract club at NITIE , the Interact clubs in 6 schools in Powai, one Senior Citizens club and two RCC (Rotary Community Corps) in Karjat & Murbad. We also have two adopted schools in Powai.
Over the years the club has extended its reach beyond the local community and has touched the lives of people wherever there has been a need, be it old age homes/ orphanages/ rural/ urban, not bound by distance or geography. The club has undertaken various projects under all the 6 avenues of service of Rotary International, (Club, Vocation, Community, International and Youth). The guiding principle has always been to serve the really needy and do our bit to nurture nature.
Some of the projects through which RC Bombay Powai has significantly contributed are …… Several medical camps in various locations, like …. Blood Donation camps, Lungs & TB Screening camps, Diabetes Check camps, Eye Health Check camps etc. Donating e-learning kits to schools, erecting toilet blocks under Sulabh shauchalay scheme, facilitating Solar Lights to bring lights into the homes and streets of Pargaon Village …. to name a few.
There have been several and varied community projects also by the club, like organizing Fun Street for the residents of in & around Powai; Republic, Independence Day and Eco-Ganapati celebrations in adopted schools, providing Education Loan Scholarships to needy students for facilitating their higher studies to help them get employment. Some of the signature community events of RC Bombay Powai has been Student felicitation (felicitating the 10th & 12th board toppers of each school in Powai), Tare Zameen Par (one of a kind open air art & craft competition) and the Powai Fest which was launched in 2013.
The innumerable projects successfully completed by RC Bombay Powai has touched and changed the lives of ten thousands of people around. This has been possible only due to the humane hands of corporates who have come forward to donate generously and are now our strong “CSR partners in service.”
A few of our CSR aided projects are …..
- Upgrading a hospital in Kadav village (Karjat) by donating urgently needed medical equipment through our CSR partner, Cole – Parmer.
- A Braille printing machine costing around Rs.70.00 Lakhs has been donated by our club to National Association for the Blind through our CSR partner, Ingram Micro India (P) Ltd.
- A blood separation facility machine donated to Rajawadi hospital costing Rs.34.00 Lakhs through our CSR Partner, Thyssen Krupp. Further this Company is also helping to donate an Anaesthesia Work Station to Sion Hospital.
- The fruit tree plantation project in Parli village
Its not just corporates who have extended their helping hands to aid and partner us in our service projects. We have even had individuals coming forward and doing the same. For e.g …. The Covid ward at the Platinum hospital, Mulund costing around Rs. 27 lakhs was all thanks to large hearted donations from individuals believing in and wanting to partner us in serving the society.
As we all know, Rotary is not just about service. Another equally important aspect of Rotary is fellowship. RC Bombay Powai is very popular in the entire District for our fellowship & camaraderie. The Club offers a stimulating fellowship based on a fascinating diversity of interests in business, arts, sciences and the professional expertise of its members.
Standing where we are today and looking back to from where we started, it really gives us all an immense sense of contentment and pride in our journey so far. And yet, every July 1st (the Rotary new year) gives us the feeling of a fresh new beginning. We fasten our seatbelts and “kindle the spark within” to “reach beyond yourself” and “reach within to embrace humanity” and continue to “serve to change lives”.