MealTime Success

MTS wishes all its readers a very happy and prosperous 2009.  We take this opportunity to thank you for your readership, support and help in disseminating information on MTS.

MTS sponsored two events over the holiday season 2008,  in line with the bigger vision of MTS to support philanthropic causes that other wise do not receive support

On December 25th – Christmas day,  MTS sponsored Christmas meal to the fire fighters at a fire station in Colorado in appreciation of their sacrifice of quality holiday time with their family to ensure the safety of the community. Pictures to accompany soon.

MTS has sponsored for a holiday party on New years’ eve 2008 to a foster home/orphanage in Colorado.  MTS has ensured a very fun New year’s eve for the kids in this foster home. Pictures to accompany soon.

As always, we respect and protect the privacy of the beneficiaries, hence the precise identity of these beneficiaries are not revealed through our site.

Happy New Year!

MTS team.

Kolam foundation has generously provided MTS with very useful information about the history and value of spices; which we have included throughout the website.  We would like to introduce Kolam foundation to all our readers and appreciate your help in providing useful information.

About Kolam Charitable Foundation, Inc. – Ms. Vaidehi Ganesan Herbert

Our organization was founded in Kauai in May 2005 by myself and a few other retired women.  My goal was to found an organization that can give all the money that it collects for charity, and I realized that I could do that with the help of my retired friends. We collect money through vegetarian Indian cooking classes and lunches, and give 100 percent of it to charity. The board of directors share the costs of office supplies, website fees, and telephone expenses.

Our goal is to help poor women, children and men achieve economic independence through job skills and education. We assist rural area poor kids to get education, and to help poor women and men to obtain earning skills. We donate cows, goats, college tuition fees, bicycles and sewing machines. We have bought 42 sewing machines, 40 goats, 3 cows and are educating about 200 children in Imayam High School, a rural area school in Tamil Nadu, India.

We raised funds initially through my ongoing cooking classes and luncheons in Kilauea, Hawaii. These are monthly classes which are well liked by the men and women who attend them. Most of our supporters come a few times a year to the classes. They bring their friends and family as well. They also give us additional donations and help with sponsorships for our children. We also have support from friends and relatives in the mainland. We’ve been featured in the local newspapers and that has brought significant support.

_______introduce book

We are hoping that this cookbook with my selected recipes will help us get further financial support. Many of them have been used in our classes and lunches.

We named our organization after the kolam art. Kolam is an age old art of charity by the women of Tamil Nadu to ants and insects. It has been with the Tamils for almost 2 thousand years. Traditionally, rice flour alone was used to make these kolams, which were supposed to feed the small beings. Today, it is done with rice flour as well as other white powders in front of every Tamil home. Color kolams are relatively new and are done on festive days. The kolam is made by the housewife and is near or at the entry to the house. It is an art which is passed on from mother to daughter, and each family has its own set of kolams. It can be as small as a square foot to large ones which could be 12 square feet or more.

As a source of income for Imayam High School, we have set up an active volunteer program. We have built a cottage for the volunteers to stay. The volunteers teach conversational English and other skills. This program is inexpensive compared to similar programs.

We want to help rural area children in all the third world countries get education, without any religious or political agendas. Our current goal is to help Imayam High School in Tamil Nadu, India, be economically independent. Hopefully, we will grow in the future to repeat this effort in other countries, and to serve as a model for other organizations.

Vaidehi Ganesan Herbert
President
November 2007