“Service in this world is highest Prayer and Loving people around is greatest Devotion”

Telugu Association of North America (TANA), besides being the oldest and largest ethnic Indian Association in North America and the largest Telugu Association in the world, is well renowned for its service to Telugu community, culture and language. TANA adopted a mission statement in 2009: To address the social, cultural and educational needs of North American Telugu community in particular and Telugu people in general. TANA leadership strives hard continually with passion to realize this mission.

TANA is clearly the leader in the service arena with more than a million dollars spent every year in India in many charitable projects through TANA Foundation. We were able to raise large sums of money to serve victims of natural calamities in Teluguland. TANA is one of the few Indian associations in North America that gives back to the community, with its annual backpacks program for needy children. TANA Emergency Assistance Management Team (TEAM Square) serving Telugu people in their emergencies is a program that all other associations try to emulate.  These are just some examples of what we do. We have a large volunteer and donor base that supports our activities with enthusiasm

There is, however, more need and room for service activities that would benefit Telugu community in North America. We propose TANA Cares as our new service initiative for Telugu people in North America to address emerging needs at a community level. It encompasses a series of service and educational initiatives and activities in many spheres (health, education, immigration etc.) that will benefit the Telugu community. This would complement our other ongoing service activities, help the fellow Telugus and bring TANA closer to the community.

TANA Cares will operate under the aegis of the TANA Executive Committee with the Regional Coordinators taking an active role and collaborating with the Project Coordinators, City Coordinators and local Telugu communities.’

We propose 10 initiatives, listed below, that can be carried out under the TANA Cares program. Most of these initiatives are not cost-intensive but depend on having enough volunteers. Many of you may have been involved in one or more of these activities in the past and have experience to share. Other initiatives can be added in future, based on feedback from the leadership, volunteers and the community. The goal is that each Regional Coordinator conducts all of these activities in their region in the next 22 months.