Unity Dinner 2009
Friends,
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Indo-American Community Federation (IACF-USA), I wish to thank you for your presence and support at the 8th Annual Unity Dinner event on Friday March 27, 09 at the Newark-Fremont Hilton.
The event was sold out, a testament to the community’s enthusiasm, and keen interest to address issues affecting us.
The pictures can be viewed at Indo-community Pictures or clicking here.
This year the theme was: Unity through Diversity: A New Day for America’s Children
Thanks to all of you, our dear and dynamic Mayor of Newark Dave Smith for his superb performance as the Master of Ceremonies, Deborah Roderick Stark for being the Keynote Speaker, Congressman Pete Stark, State Senator Ellen Corbett and Assembly member Mary Hayashi for their contribution at the federal and State level to address these issues.
Close to 80 public officials were present at the event from Ohlone College, Washington Hospital, Eden Township Healthcare District (dr. Vin Sawhney), Fremont school district, Sanitary Board, Water Board, Bay Area Rapid Transit (Tom Blalock), Cities of Fremont, Newark, Milpitas, Union City, Cupertino, Sunnyvale and Hayward, Counties of Santa Clara and Alameda; former State Senator Liz Figueroa was also present.
Also present was the Community affairs Consul from Consul General of India, Mr. Ashok Sinha. Thank you all for being with us.
Thanks to Citizens for Better Community (CBC), Fremont Education Foundation, Fremont Chamber of Commerce, American Association of the Physicians of Indian origin (AAPIO), Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (ICC), FIANC, NFIA, Afghan Coalition, Hispanic council and various other organizations for co-sponsoring the event.
A big thank you to Washington Hospital, for being our Grand Sponsor;
Pete Stark Foundation, Sysnet Technology Solutions, Oakland Athletics, Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty, AAA, and Indian American Friendship Council (Dr. Krishna Reddy) for Silver Sponsorship; Ohlone Community College District, Fremont Chamber of Commerce, The City of Fremont, Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (ICC), American Association of the Physicians of Indian origin (AAPIO), Salwan Properties, FIANC for table sponsorship;
Tri-City Voice, India West, Naz Cinemas (Shiraz Jivani) for being Media Sponsors.
Thanks to Mountian Dance Company for providing international dances and enthralling the audience.
Thanks to Awards Committee chair Tim Reilly, Hon. Steve Cho and the Honorees for accepting IACF 2009 Awards.
The Honorees were:
Shinn-Shyng Chang, MD, obstetrics and gynecology, Washington Hospital
Pramela Ramachandran, MD, Medical Director of the Washington Hospital Packard Level II Special Care Nursery for their many years of dedication and care provided to the women and children of the Tri-City area;
Dr. Reshmee Sharma of Seattle, Washington, Author: for ROSHNI – The light of south Asia;
Pete McHugh, Former Santa Clara County Supervisor for his efforts to promote diversity in his County;
Albert Wang, MD, Founding member of Friends of Children with special needs (FCSN) and Founding Member of CBC for his exemplary service to community development projects;
Thanks to Tim Reilly’s Canyon band for entertaining the more than 300 honored guests at the event.
Once again, thank you very much for supporting IACF. Please write to us and guide us to serve you better.
Sincerely,
Jeevan Zutshi, (510) 589-3702
Unity Dinner 2009
‘A unity in diversity dinner’
8th Annual event
Date: March 27, 2009 (Friday)
Time: 6.30 PM to 12:00 Midnight
Hilton Newark/Fremont
39900 Balentine Drive
Newark, California, United States 94560-0564
Tel: 1-510-490-8390
Keynote Speaker: Deborah Roderick Stark
Commissioner, First Five Alameda County Commission
Every Child Counts
Press Coverage
IACF Celebrates Unity with Speeches, Awards – Mar 27, 2009, Shehjar
Supporting Organizations
Fremont Chamber of Commerce
Fremont Education Foundation
Citizens for Better Community (CBC)
Hispanic Unity Council
Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
Indian American Friendship Council (IAFC)
American Association of the Physicians of Indian origin (AAPIO)
Indo-Americans for Better community (IABC)
Global Organization of People of Indian origin (GOPIO)
National Federation of Indian Associations (NFIA)
FIA of Northern California – FIANC
Federation of Indo-American Associations (FIA)
Grand Sponsor
Washington Hospital Foundation
Silver Sponsor
Pete Stark Foundation
Oakland Athletics
Lighthouse Worldwide Solutions
Sysnet Technology Solutions, Inc.
Indian American Friendship Council (Dr. Krishna Reddy)
Sponsors
Ohlone Community College District
AAA
Fremont Chamber of Commerce
The City of Fremont
Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
Citizens for Better Community (CBC)
Table Sponsors
Sarbjit Hundal, MD, Mission Valley Eye Medical Center
Dr. Deepak Sachdev, San Mateo Dental services
American Association of the Physicians of Indian origin (AAPIO)
Ron Demetro
Ashok Vaid (Ashoka Petroleum)
FIA of Northern California
Salwan Property Management
Chandru Bhambra Real Estate
Media Sponsors
Tri-City Voice
Naz Cinemas (Shiraz Jivani)
Papiha Nandy
Unity Dinner 2009 Program
Master of Ceremonies: Dave Smith, Mayor of the city of Newark
Social Hour: Tim Reilly’s Band
National Anthem
Indian: Monica & Dr. Deepak Sachdev, Usha and Ruchi Zutshi, Rudra and Vanie Zutshi,Neeru Sharma, Shubra Garg
American: Lena Zee
Welcome -Opening Remarks
IACF President, Shashi Sharma (2004-2008)
IACF President, Dr. Naresh Sharma
Dinner
Dancing Without Borders
Mountian International Dance Company
Message from IACF Founder
Jeevan Zutshi
Introductions and Recognition
Hon. Mayor City of Fremont, Bob Wasserman
Hon. Mayor City of Newark, Dave Smith
Hon. Mayor City of Union City, Mark Green
Hon. Mayor City of Hayward, Mike Sweeney
Hon. Vice Mayor City of Milpitas, Pete McHugh
Hon. Mayor City of Sunnyvale, Tony Spitaleri
Hon. Mayor City of Cupertino, Orrin Mahoney
Hon. County of Alameda Supervisor Scott Haggerty
Hon. Assembly member Mary Hayashi
Hon. State Senator Ellen Corbett (District 10)
“Can Do!”
by the Jung SuWon Martial Art Action Demo Team
Guest Speaker
Senator Ellen Corbett
Keynote Speaker
Deborah Roderick Stark
Introduction by Rahul Zutshi, IACF V.P
Awards Ceremony
IACF Awards Committee:
Former Fremont City Council member Honorable Steve Ch
Mr. Timothy Reilly, V.P, Union Bank
2008 Honorees:
Dr. Reshmee Sharma of Seattle, Washington, Author: ROSHNI – The light of south Asia for her journalistic contributions globally.
Introduction by Dr. Narendra K. Gupta, MD, FRCP (from State of Georgia)
Presented by Mayor City of Fremont, Bob Wasserman and Anil Yadav, V.P of NFIA
Pete McHugh, Former Santa Clara County Supervisor
Introduction by Jessie Singh, CEO, BJS Electronics
Presented by Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty and Jessie Singh
Albert Wang, MD
Introduction by David Sheen, CBC Past President
Presented by Assembly member Mary Hayashi and Dr. Krishna Reddy, Founder of IAFC
Shinn-Shyng Chang, MD, obstetrics and gynecology, Washington Hospital
Introduction by Dr. Annu Navani, AAPIO President
Presented by Mayor City of Cupertino, Orrin Mahoney and Mayor City of Sunnyvale, Tony Spitaleri
Pramela Ramachandran, MD, Medical Director of the Washington Packard Level II Special Care Nursery
Introduction by Dr. Annu Navani, AAPIO President
Presented by State Senator Ellen Corbett, Cindy Bonior, CEO of Fremont Chamber of Commerce and Dr. Vin Sawhney.
Honorable Mention:
Deepak Sachdev, a founding member of IACF and a successful dentist has also created a musical album of Mohd Rafi’s popular songs ‘the deep’ recreated by Harry Anand, a well known music director in Mumbai.
Papiha Nandy has started ‘Good Morning America’ along with Salaam Namaste, Papiha and Chitramala to promote finest of East India film music, community events, and interviews with celebrities in various fields.
He Can Do, She Can Do, Why Not Me!
Dr. Tae Yun Kim
Unity and Children
Ro Khanna
Vote of thanks
Dr. Naresh Sharma, IACF President
Dance with Tim Reilly’s Canyon Band