Ms Shilpa Reddy felicitates the kids for their awe-inspiring initiative & desires their jest for life, compassion, empathy continues to aid millions of people

Hyderabad, March 26^th 2017: Fashion Designer and Model Ms Shilpa Reddy, felicitated a bunch of school going kids,Soumya Peri, Samyuktha Kolluru, Adviteeya Vojjala, Anusha V Kumar and Sathvika Kolluru, for their awe-inspiring initiative to raise Rs 5.5 Lakhs, to provide succor to poor cancer patients, at a program organised by Grace Cancer Foundation, on Sunday at The Plaza Hotel, Begumpet. Mr Prasad Garapati, Chairman, Electronics & Computers Software Export Promotion Council; Dr Chinnababu Sunkavalli, Founder Grace Foundation, Smt. Sasikala Swamy of Lakshmanachary Memorial College of Music and Mr B L Sujatha Rao, Retd. IGP & Founder, Grace Foundation, were present on the occasion.

A volunteer of Grace Cancer Foundation, Soumya Peri, a tenth class student from Delhi Public School, Khajaguda, Hyderabad and a disciple of Smt. Sasikala Swamy at Lakshmanachary Memorial College of Music, worked tirelessly to organize a musical concert on Feb 5, 2017 to raise funds for poor cancer patients, who otherwise can’t afford cancer detection and subsequent treatment. Soumya and her friends – Samyuktha Kolluru, Adviteeya Vojjala, Anusha V Kumar and Sathvika Kolluru, all of whom are students of Smt. Sasikala Swamy have enthralled an audience of almost 350+ people with songs in Telugu and Hindi for over 3 hours. The musical evening saw the young singers render a variety of songs – devotional, romantic and inspirational and touched many a heart with their meticulous preparation, commitment and devotion towards the noble cause. In the process, they raised more than Rs 5.5 Lakhs for Grace Cancer Foundation.

Speaking on the occasion Ms Shilpa Reddy applauding the initiative of the kids said, I have been to very many cancer awareness camps and programs but I must admit the noble act of these wonderful young girls touched my heart. As a mother I know what it is to bring up the next generation of the society being a mother myself, they are the future of our country and what you instill in them, what you help them understand is important, what you nurture with the kind of thoughts in them, it is not easy. So first of all I want to thank the parents of these beautiful girls who encouraged, supported and stood behind them to make this happen. I am really touched with this gesture. Music is something which is boundless, it’s a universal language. These kids didn’t really wait for to become grownups or adults, find a job, settle in life and then think of doing some social service or welfare, within what they have, with the resources they have at their age if they can dig out an opportunity and make such a huge difference, I think everyone of us has something to dig deep and see and within our limited resources we can make a difference. So this is a huge eye opener, it’s actually a huge life lesson for us to kind of examine and take it forward. As Dr Chinnababu said this initiative should become a pink revolution, now that you are official Band for Grace Foundation, I hope you have many such concerts and please invite me to the next one. Wish you all the best and let this jest for life, the compassion, the empathy continue, so that millions of people can benefit in the near future. I also thank their teacher Smt. Sasikala Swamy, who is an inspiration, having a right guru is also important, she added.

Smt. Sasikala Swamy played the role of the band leader by directing her students throughout the concert and fondly acknowledged her students’ contribution for the cause. She appreciated the contribution of the parents and families in letting the students pursue their passion.

Dr. Chinnababu Sunkavalli, Dr. Suresh Attili and Sri Kiran Vakkalanka – Founders and Board members of Grace Cancer Foundation have collectively acknowledged the selfless act of the young girls to spare so much time for the cause. Speaking during the event, all of them have said that the act of youngsters has inspired them beyond words and that the funds will be helping hundreds of poor families with early detection of cancer and possibly even treatment. This selfless act of dedicating so much time to practice the songs and present them with such dedication and professionalism is beyond all their expectations – the founders said. In addition, Grace Cancer Foundation is pleased to appoint this music band – SAASS as their official music group for all future concerts.

Soumya Peri, the brain behind this entire idea is thrilled to see that her efforts together with her friends can potentially save lives. Post her board exams, she is keen to start the study on Cancer under the guidance of Dr. Attili and also join the cancer camps in April and May. An aspiring oncologist herself, she was extremely grateful to the opportunity provided by Grace Cancer Foundation to conduct this event and also for providing all the logistics and support. The fact that we could potentially touch lives is truly a humbling experience, she said.