59th Birthday of Amma, Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi Celebrated, EMBRACING THE WORLD Announces $4.7 Million worth of Charitable Initiatives

SAN RAMON, Calif., Sept. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Annually on Amma's birthday, EMBRACING THE WORLD (www.embracingtheworld.org) launches several new charitable initiatives and extends some of the existing humanitarian programs. The total cost of these programs this year is estimated to be $4.7M. 

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120927/DC81992)

1) 200 FREE HEART SURGERIES & 50 FREE KIDNEY TRANSPLANTS AT AMRITA HOSPITAL:  The surgeries will be available to poor people from across the country. Since Amrita Hospital's inauguration in 1998, EMBRACING THE WORLD has provided millions worth of charitable care to 278,000 poor people hailing from various States in India.

2) 500 FREE HOUSES FOR THE HOMELESS IN KERALA: Amrita Kuteeram began in 1998. Since then, EMBRACING THE WORLD has constructed more than 45,000 houses for the poor which includes more than 6,200 houses for the 2004 Tsunami victims. EMBRACING THE WORLD has built houses in more than 75 locations in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Pondicherry, Karnataka, Andaman-Nicobar Island and Tamil Nadu.

3) FINANCIAL AID TO FAMILIES WHO LOST SOMEONE OR HAD SOMEONE SERIOUSLY INJURED BY EXPLOSIONS IN KANNUR & SIVAKASI:  EMBRACING THE WORLD will provide $1,868 to families who lost someone in either the LPG-tanker explosion in Kannur, Kerala or the fireworks-factory explosion at Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu.

4) EXTENDING THE AMRITA NIDHI PENSION PROGRAM:  EMBRACING THE WORLD will extend the reach of its all-India Amrita Nidhi program, with an additional 3,000 recipients, increasing the total from 55,000 to 58,000 beneficiaries.  This program provides lifetime pensions to widows and mentally and physically challenged individuals since its inception in 1998. 

5) EXTENDING THE REACH OF THE VIDYAMRITAM SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM:  EMBRACING THE WORLD will also extend the reach of its Vidyamritam scholarships-for-the-poor program to cover an additional 3,000 students, taking its total of beneficiaries from 37,000 to 40,000 across the country. The intention of this initiative started in 2007 in response to the farmer suicide epidemic was to help lay a stronger economic foundation for impoverished agricultural families. Many of the beneficiaries are children who have lost one or both parents to suicide.

EMBRACING THE WORLD is globally recognized as an International NGO that has been conferred with 'Special Consultative Status' by the United Nations.

Press Contacts: Alison Richards
Phone: 408 858 8117
Email: alisonrchards327@gmail.com

Thottuvai Rajasekhar
Phone: 510 239 7020
Email: gm@amma.org

SOURCE MA Center