Karuna charities,a Non profit International charity organisation for helping the poor and needy was founded by Mrs Lekha Sreenivasan,wife of Former Ambassodor of India to the UN Mr T.P.Sreenivasan.
Since its inception in NewYork in 1993,karuna charities has been headed under the able guidance of the founder and permanent chairperson Mrs Lekha Sreenivasan.
Karuna chapters had been set up in Washington DC,Dallas,Texas,Nairobi(Kenya),Vienna(Austria) and also in Trivandrum(Kerala,India)by the sincere efforts of Mrs Lekha Sreenivasan.
This organisation has helped thousands of people in India,USA and Kenya.It is a now a leading non-profit organisation with more than 500 members.
Operated entirely by volunteers,karuna charities works solely to provide help for extremely destitute and poor.With absolutely no administrative costs associated with its functioning,all the contributions made to Karuna is fully utilised for charitable purposes for the deserving cases.
In Nairobi,it has built a home for street children which is run by Don Bosco Fathers that now houses over 120 children.
Kerala has been a huge beneficiary of various karuna projects.
The Newyork chapter of karuna charities shipped a container of clothes and 9000 eyeglasses each in 1994 and 2000 which was distributed to the deserving ones throughout the state through the Lions and Rotary clubs.
In 1996 karuna funded the marriage of 22 poor girls in Trivandrum.
In 2002,The Vienna chapter established a vocational training centre for the destitute girls in Trivandrum .
karuna has helped many charity institutions like oldage homes,homeless and battered women's shelters,orphanages and handicapped schools and hospitals.It has also helped individuals for the treatment of various diseases and helped hunreds of cancer and other patients.
With the help of all chapters , karuna Charities helped the Regional Cancer Association to build a waiting hall at the Regional cancer Centre which was opened in November 2005.
Money is distributed through karuna now and then to deserving patients at the Regional Cancer Centre(RCC)in Trivandrum.
The Dream of Karuna is to build an Oldage Home and Karuna is also looking out for a short stay home close to the RCC,for the relatives of the patients admitted here.
karuna celebrated its 11th Anniversary in Trivandrum with a cultural programme on
7th october 2007 in which the princess of Travancore Palace also tookpart.
The highlight or the programme was the solo Bharathanatyam performance by the Chairperson Mrs Lekha Srinivasan.
A few words about Mrs lekha Sreenivasan:
She is undoubtedly a down-to-earth person.
She is an accomplished Bharathanatyam dancer and has performed in more than 25 countries.She has also trained children of different nationalities and choreograghed many dance forms.
She is a true artist.
Her house in Trivandrum is a just to her artistic excellence which exibits her various works of art,including ceramic,acrylic paintings,mural paintings,aluminium embossings etc.
A fine collection of Lord Ganesha and cute elephant figures of different countries gives a warm welcome to their living room.
She has also mastered in Yoga and Reiki.
She has exhibited her works in several countries and all the proceeds from her artistic pursuits,Yoga classes and dance perfomances are pumped into Karuna charity.
