Cricket Stars, Corporate Bigwigs And Bollywood Glam For HFH India Fundraising Dinner In London
July 8th, 2011
M.S. Dhoni, Captain Of India’s World Cup Winning Cricket Team, To Co-Host London Event With Mrs Rajashree Birla
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, captain of India’s World Cup winning team, will co-host a charity dinner in London in aid of HFH India.
LONDON, 8th July 2011: Heavyweights from India’s sporting and corporate world will be joining hands at a fundraising event in aid of Habitat for Humanity’s IndiaBUILDS.
On 18th July, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, currently captain of India’s World Cup-winning cricket team, will co-host a charity dinner at London Hilton on Park Lane, a five-star hotel in Mayfair, central London. His co-host is Rajashree Birla of Indian conglomerate Aditya Birla Group and chair of IndiaBUILDS advisory committee.
The charity event will also benefit M.S. Dhoni Charitable Foundation, which supports a number of children’s charities.
Guests will include past and present players from England’s and India’s national cricket teams as well as Bollywood stars such as Habitat for Humanity India’s goodwill ambassadors, Ranganathan ‘Maddy’ Madhavan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Omi Vaidya, and Chitrangada Singh.
Half of all proceeds raised on the night will go toward IndiaBUILDS, an ambitious initiative by HFH India that aims to assist 500,000 people with safe and healthy homes by 2015, and is spearheaded by Mrs Birla.
Many of India’s high-profile business leaders will also be lending their support. They include Sanjay Nayar of KKR India, Pramit Jhaveri of Citigroup, Asit Koticha of ASK Financials, Gul Kripalani of Pijikay Group, and representatives from India’s business community in the United Kingdom.
A charity auction will be among the highlights of the “East Meets West” fundraising dinner in London. Items which will go under the hammer include a World Cup Final cricket bat signed by M.S. Dhoni, and the opportunity for two people to spend a day at the film set on location in London or India for an upcoming film Teri Meri Kahani starring Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra.
Habitat Global Hero, Bollywood star John Abraham, has also donated his favorite helmet and biker jacket, both signed and framed, for the auction.
The fundraising dinner is just one of many events being held over the next few weeks to benefit HFH India.
On 17th August, Habitat supporters will gather at London Business School to “mock build” a house, symbolically representing the ones that will be built in India to support families currently living in substandard homes.