USA-Nepal Community Outreach Network (UNCON) organized a full day Volunteer Appreciation and Community Service Event at the Oak Point Park Nature & Retreat Center in Plano on March 11, 2017. The full day event was a combination of different segments that included blood drive, support to Samaritan Inn, support to Plano ISD CORE store, presentation of UNCON activities and appreciation to community volunteers (main segment).
Plano City Council Member Honorable Rick Grady was the chief guest of the main segment of the event that started at 4:30 PM and ended at 6:00 PM. Other special guests of the program included Mr. Dan Armstrong, Ms. Angie Sifferman, Ms. Randi Weaver (all from Plano ISD), Ms. Irma Kusuma from Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce (GDAACC), and Mr. Steve Lester from Samaritan Inn. Presidents of almost all of the non-profit organizations and some very prominent social leaders of the Nepali American Community in DFW attended at least one of the different segments of the event. The whole program was managed by UNCON Officers Naresh Raj Pandey and Thala Raj Panta.
UNCON President, Prakash Gautam, started the main segment of the event at 4:30 with the introduction of all UNCON officers. UNCON is comprised of 11 officers, 18 ladies volunteers, and 23 youth volunteers. He then welcomed the chief guest, special guests, and all the prominent social leaders and volunteers of the Nepali American community. He also announced that fifty-three people donated blood, during the day, at the blood drive that was organized by UNCON in collaboration with Carter Blood Care. The Dallas Everest Lions Club and the Blood Donors of America (Texas) supported UNCON for this blood drive. This highly successful blood drive was very professionally coordinated by UNCON Officer Agni Sanjel.
UNCON Officers Batuk Bista, Bilas Upadhyay and Achyut Rijal very professionally presented a 20 minute slideshow about UNCON's various projects and activities since its establishment. All the past and future projects/activities were explained in detail. UNCON Officer Laxmi Oli Panta gave a short presentation about a tradition called Chhaupadi, which is a tradition practiced in remote areas of western Nepal, where girls are prohibited to touch other people during their monthly periods. UNCON believes this tradition is unfair to women; therefore, UNCON has initiated a campaign, in its capacity, to minimize or abolish the tradition. A condensed documentary on Chhaupadi, prepared by UNCON itself, was also screened in the program.
UNCON Youth Team then presented a slideshow about youth community activities and projects that they executed in the past years. All the youths presented their short introductions and explained how they have been benefitting from UNCON; they also invited and encouraged other youth to join UNCON and to engage in community activities.
UNCON Officer Devendra Shah moderated the program hereafter and requested the Chief Guest of the program Honorable Rick Grady for his remarks. Honorable Rick Grady read the special recognition certificate for UNCON COMMUNITY SERVICE, which was signed by Honorable Harry LaRosiliere, Mayor of City of Plano, and presented to UNCON. He also appreciated the community services that UNCON has been doing since 2015, and expressed his special appreciation for the successful blood drive that was organized on that day. He then distributed UNCON appreciation plaques to Business and Individuals that supported UNCON community services in various capacities. Appreciation plaques were awarded to Alsal Construction inc, Dallas Everest Lions Club, DFW Yeti Homes LLC, Pioneer Healthcare Clinic, Proton PRC, Raju Corporation, Souryarpan LLC, Vastica Inc., Wrenjenskey (HVAC), Anshul Shrestha, Dr. Ali Jafarian, Dr. Bipin Raj Bista, Dr. Sabin Bista, Ganesh Thapa, Haribol Bhandari, Pragya Gautam, Saroj Sigdel, Shraddha Bista, Sudeep & Manju Regmi, and Uttam Lamichhane.
Honorable Rick Grady also presented two special appreciation plaques to Nepalese Society of Texas (NST) and Nepali Rhino Cricket Club. NST had partially supported UNCON for the construction of a two-room block of a school in Lamjung, Nepal in 2016. NST President Krishna Lamichhane received the special appreciation on behalf of NST. Nepali Rhino Cricket Club (NRCC) promoted cricket in Nepali American community by winning 2X Cricket Tournament, with an award of $60,000, in Houston in 2016. Sagar Panta, a prominent player of Nepali Rhino Cricket Club, had to leave the program early; therefore, Thala Raj Pant of UNCON received the award on behalf of Nepali Rhino.
UNCON President Prakash Gautam presented a thank you plaque to the chief guest Honorable Rick Grady for attending the program and motivating UNCON volunteers. The thank-you plaques were also presented to Angie Sifferman, Dan Armstrong, and Randi Weaver & Family. At the end, UNON Officer Bilas Upadhyay conducted the raffle draw and prizes were distributed to lucky winners.
The program was adjourned at 6:00 pm with a thank-you note by UNCON Officer Binod Joshi. Light refreshments were served after the program.
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