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GOSUMEC Foundation
Dear GSMC/KEM Alumni:In June 2000, Dr. Guru Shirahatti, then the Dean of Seth G. S. Medical College and Dr. Ravi Bapat visited the United States. Their primary mission was to invite all of US-based alumni to the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of January 2001. In addition, they wanted to promote a fresh dialogue with hundreds of alumni here and to create an alumni organization in the US to enhance the image and quality of the college and hospital.
Inspired by the Dean’s plea and suggestions, a group of GS-ites who had gathered at Dr. Vijay Dave’s residence in June 2000, pledged their support immediately and decided to form a tax-exempt entity. Dr. Nila Vora and Dr. Manu Vora spearheaded the project to form the GOSUMEC Foundation. It took countless hours of paperwork and efforts to get the By-Laws, Constitution and filing with IRS to get the tax-exempt status. Finally, in January 2002, IRS granted 501(c)(3) status to the GOSUMEC Foundation. Enclosed please see Dr. Shirahatti’s letter supporting the GOSUMEC Foundation efforts.
During this time, Dr. Vijay Dave visited GS during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in January 2001. He donated his time and own money to start an Alumni Affairs Office at GS in a room called Nostalgia created in front of the Dean’s office and equipped with a computer and alumni database. We emphasize that Nostalgia will be your place to visit next time you are at GS.
Another important development occurred during this time. Two YAG lasers worth $49,000 were donated to the KEM Ophthalmology Department. This effort was organized by Dr. Manu Vora, President of Blind Foundation for India (BFI) in the US. BFI provided $16,000, $8,500 came from Rotary Club of Cuff Parade, Mumbai and the matching fund of $24,500 was received from the Rotary International in Evanston, Illinois.
Here is some additional information on the GOSUMEC Foundation:
What Is GOSUMEC Foundation (GF)?The GOSUMEC Foundation is a Not-for-Profit, IRS 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Organization (Tax ID # 36-4414583) chartered in the State of Illinois. The mission of GF is to provide a forum for educational exchange and health care technology transfer to Seth G. S. Medical College and affiliated institutions in India.
What is the Current Status of GOSUMEC Foundation ?
We have formed a governing body with an initial slate of Officers and Board of Directors (elected every 3 years), plus Regional Advisers across the US. We have rented a Postal Box, created GF Letterhead and opened a bank account. The Directors have already contributed $1,000 each and are working on creating a database and website.
How Will Our Money Be Spent ?
Initially, we want to collect a sizable amount to create an endowment. Then we will take on one or more projects using the interest money. At all times, we will entertain funds for specific projects by appealing to the alumni, charitable trusts, Rotary Clubs, matching grants from businesses, pharmaceutical companies here in the US and also in India.
What About Alumni Back Home In India?
In addition to Dr. Nilima Kshirsagar (the current Dean), we have established two India-based alumni as our liaisons. They are Dr. Lopa Mehta and Dr. Ravi Ramakantan. Dr. Lopa Mehta will be our single point of contact while Dr. Ravi Ramakantan will provide web-related support. We expect collaboration between GF and the India-based alumni will be very close and productive. We would also encourage US alumni to visit and monitor our projects’ progress.
Where Can We Get News on GS/KEM?
Please visit the KEM web site (http://www.kem.edu/) and GF web site that is under construction (http://www.gosumec.org/) and share it with your friends.
How Do We Communicate with and Get Update about the GF?
We are working on our GF web site; until then you may call or write to any one of the Officers, Directors, or Regional Advisors of the GOSUMEC Foundation. Your constructive comments and suggestions are always welcome, as this is your alumni foundation.
What do I Have to Do?
You became a member of the GS-KEM Alumni as soon as you entered the medical school or started your internship or residency at KEM or affiliated hospitals in India. There are no membership fees to join the GOSUMEC Foundation.We would like you to get involved to help your alma mater. Towards this goal, in addition to your monetary and moral support, we hope you will spread the word about the GOSUMEC Foundation to all your GOSUMEC friends both in your area and elsewhere. We welcome your participation in any and all activities undertaken by the Foundation. We will support you if you wish to take a more active role within GF.
GOSUMEC Foundation Get Together at 2002 AAPI Meeting in Chicago
We have planned a get together of GS-ites at the upcoming AAPI Meeting in Chicago on Friday evening, June 28, 2002. The Current Director, Dr. Nilima Kshirsagar will be the Chief Guest at this get together. Look for further details when you arrive on site at the hotel.We look forward to remaining in touch with all our GS-ites Friends.
Dr. Sunita Ginde, President
On behalf of Officers,
Directors and Regional Advisors of GOSUMEC Foundation -
Progress Report:
– Oct 2002 – Foundation meet
Following is the report on the GOSUMEC Foundation Meet held recently
Dear Friends:It gives us immense pleasure to share with all of you what a wonderful GOSUMEC get together we had last Sunday (Oct. 13, 2002) at Viceroy of India in Lombard, Illinois, USA from 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. CDT.
We had around 40 attendees (hit a minimum target – we had good quality, now we need more quantity), great GSMC/KEMH power point presentation by Dr. Manubhai Kothari, update on GOSUMEC Foundation by Dr. Vijay Dave followed by an extraordinary multi-media presentation entitled “Timelessly…” put together by GSMC students, Drs. Nilima Kshirsagar (Dean), Ravi Ramakantan and Lopa Mehta. We saw many people wiping their tears of joy while watching the musical extravaganza (what an emotional journey!).
The senior most alumnus was Dr. Chhotalal N. Shah (1946 MBBS)who attended with his wife Ansuyaben (Dr. C. N. Shah is shown with Dr. Vijay Dave in the last picture attached below). Dr. Vikram Kamdar from Los Angeles specially came for this event. Drs. Ajit and Madhavi Parekh came from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Rest of the attendees were from Illinois and Indiana.
Dr. Manubhai Kothari assured the audience that whatever money is sent by the GOSUMEC Foundation USA for any specific project will be fully used for the project (not a single cent will be misused or wasted).
Dr. Vijay Dave gave a status on GOSUMEC Foundation structure and current position of the Corpus Fund. He appealed to all GSMC/KEMH Alumnus to give at a minimum $1,000 to the corpus Fund. The principal amount will stay here in USA. Interest from this corpus fund will support future projects at GSMC/KEMH. In addition, there is an immediate need to procure Audiovisual Aids for Lecture Halls # 2,3,4 & 5 at a cost of Rs. 10 lacs ($21,000). We have set the goal of raising $21,000 for the above project by 12/31/2002.
We are happy to report that as of 10/15/02, we have received donations/ pledges of $22,003 for the Corpus Fund, $5,000 for Lecture Halls Renovation project and $6,603 for the Audiovisual Aids for Lecture Halls. We are short by only $14,400 for this special project. The attached power point presentation provides a status report on the GOSUMEC Foundation.
One of the suggestion put forward by Dr. Dushyant Patel was to have an Annual Appeal to GOSUMECs in USA. By this e-mail, let us start that process of annual appeal. Please use this opportunity to help our alma mater.
Kindly share this e-mail and ppt file with as many GOSUMEC friends in your area as possible in next few weeks. We all can take advantage in 2002 by writing a tax-deductible check to “GOSUMEC Foundation” and mail it to GOSUMEC Foundation, P. O. Box 3801, Naperville, IL 60567-3801. You will receive a receipt for your donation. Please indicate in the memo section – Corpus or Special Project. Remember the final scene from the movie ‘City of Joy’ – “In the end, whatever is not given is lost!”.
Another issue was raised at the get together – are we reaching out to younger Alumni? We had several younger Alumni at the event. We need to make extra effort to involve both younger as well as mature Alumni.
For those of you who could not make the event, we are attaching few snapshots of good memories we had last Sunday. Enjoy! For those who attended the event, we have sent an e-mail, so you can access all the photos from the event.
For the future, we are working on establishing similar non-profit foundations in India (lead by Dr. Sharad Gogate), Canada, UK, and Australia/New Zealand. With all five Foundations working in harmony, we have a potential of raising a large corpus fund to help the alma mater. One of our dream is to see in our life time a combined corpus fund of $100 million dollars.
Special thanks to Dr. Avi Patwardhan who has even reached out to his non-GOSUMEC friends and collected donations for the GOSUMEC Foundation. Both Drs. Avi and Nilima Patwardhan are working on academic affiliation between University of Massachusetts Medical School (Worcester) and GSMC. Stay tuned for any new development on this front!
Speaking for myself, I am a GSMC/KEMH son-in-law dedicated to bring excellence to twin institutions. I also belong to Amreli, the same hometown as the First Dean, Dr. Jivraj Mehta. We have given Dr. Manubhai Kothari US Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Guidelines for Education (for GSMC) and Health Care (KEMH). These guidelines will help assess the twin institutions with respect to Strengths and Areas for Improvement. We are convinced, with the right leadership support from the Dean and Department Heads, we can help GSMC/KEMH to achieve the greatest height it is capable of and become one of the finest and premiere institutions in India, Asia and the world.
Special thanks to all those who worked extremely hard to pull this event together (Drs. Kanti Chandarana, Ashwin Damania, Vijay Dave, Prashant Deshpande, Mayank Doshi, Jayant & Sunita Ginde, Gopal Lalmalani, Ashish Vora & Nila Vora).
It has been my pleasure to serve GSMC/KEMH.
Manu Vora, Ph.D.
Executive Director
GOSUMEC Foundation, USA
http://www.gosumec.org/
630-548-5531
– March 2003 – Recent News
RECENT NEWS: April 1, 2003
We had a GOSUMEC Board of Directors meeting yesterday. Few important items were discussed as follows:
1) With major contributions from Dr. Avi Patwardhan (Academic Affiliation between UMMS and GSMC as well as excellent fund raising work among GOSUMECs and non-GOSUMEC friends), we welcome his appointment as a Director of the GOSUMEC Foundation. Congratulations and many thanks, Avi!
2) GOSUMEC Foundation Secretary, Dr. Peasant Deshpande is visiting Mumbai from April 10 through April 25.
3) A check for $2,100 donation from Dr. Umed K. Shah specifically for the Anesthesia Department is being mailed at the Diamond Jubilee Society Trust today.
4) For modernizing Audio/Visual facilities of the recently renovated Lecture Halls 2, 3, 4, 5, we have now raised $14,400. By the en of April 2003, we are trying to raise the remaining $6,600. Once the full amount $21,000 (10 lac rupees) is collected, we will send the check.
5) Effort is underway to raise funds for the Corpus (amount raised $27,000) and A/V Project.
6) Major GOSUMEC Foundation achievements to date are: $49,000 for 2 YAG Lasers through Blind Foundation for India, Rotary International and RC of Cuff Parade and Wilmette. $30,000 for Lecture Halls 3, 4, 5 Renovations (resources pooled between India and USA GOSUMEC donors), $2,100 for the Anesthesia Department and $14,400 for A/V upgrades in Lecture Halls 2, 3, 4, 5.
7) Required financial reports were filed with IRS and Illinois Attorney General’s office by March 14, 2003.
8) Future GOSUMEC BOD meetings will be via Conference Calls. Tentative dates are: Sunday June 8, September 14 and December 7. Time from 8:00 – 9:30 p.m. Central time. The first call in June will be for all the Directors. Then we will open up for Regional Advisors. Look for e-mail with conference bridge inf. by the end of May 2003.
Please keep in touch.
Manu Vora
Executive Director
GOSUMEC Foundation, USA
– March 2004 – With a handsome donation of Rs. 12,0 lakhs from the GOSUMEC Foundation USA, we have now acquired 15 LCD projectors for the various lecture theaters and teaching departments of our college.
