Project Ahimsa Hosts Successful San Francisco Fundraiser to Benefit Youth Music Education

Over 250 People Attend Evening of World-Class Music & Dance

(SAN FRANCISCO, May 23, 2006) – Project Ahimsa, an internationally-recognized non-profit organization dedicated to the empowerment of youth through music, announced that it held a successful fundraiser on Friday, May 19th, in San Francisco, CA. The event was held as San Francisco’s 111 Minna Gallery, a unique venue where original art graces the walls and beautiful music stirs the soul. Proceeds from the event will support Project Ahimsa’s new grant-making initiatives in Latin America and Southeast Asia.

At the event, over 250 people mingled and danced to electronic music infused with ethnic melodies, global rhythms and punk swagger. Performers for the evening were Nerm of the UK’s Shiva Soundsystem collective, along with San Francisco’s own godfather of world music, DJ Cheb-i-Sabbah. Also performing was Deejay Bella (Vishwa Music), Oakland’s first lady of reggae and hip-hop. Energetic dance performances from Los Angeles-based Taal Dance Company and the Bay Area’s Dholrhythms Dance Troupe enlivened the evening.

On May 3rd, Project Ahimsa announced it’s third donation to a San Francisco Bay Area music education organization. The grant recipient, Oakland based Art in Action (www.artinactioncamp.org), was founded in 2001 to bring arts-based tools for personal and social empowerment to an ethnically and socio-economically diverse group of young people in the Bay Area. Its main program is an annual 10-day summer session of training in music, hip-hop, dance, theater, song, spoken word and visual arts, along with workshops on personal empowerment and community and global issues. The young people use what they learn to create dance and music for an original theater production. Project Ahimsa’s grant will enable Art in Action to record the music and spoken word compositions the students create.

In the past two years, Art in Action has expanded its programs to include year round activities that continue to engage graduates of the summer programs. These activities include music performances, workshops and support for youth-organized social justice campaigns.

Through its grants and instrument donations, Project Ahimsa provides music education for children in poor and under-served areas around the world, particularly in areas affected by violence. Project Ahimsa’s goal is to promote non-violence, cultural exchange and the healing power of music to improve the lives of at-risk and impoverished children. In Sanskrit, “Ahimsa” means “non-violence.”

Project Ahimsa is always seeking opportunities to make grants to youth-focused registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations and NGOs that want to add music education to their programs or need support for existing music programs.

About Project Ahimsa

Project Ahimsa is a global effort to empower youth through music, with offices in San Francisco and Tampa, Florida. Since its inception in 2001, it has reached nearly 10,000 children around the globe through music education grants and musical instrument donations.

The organization, inspired by the teachings of non-violence and cross-cultural understanding of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., creates and supports music education programs for children around the world. Project Ahimsa is a cultural initiative of the Drs. Kiran and Pallavi Patel Foundation for Global Understanding (www.global-understanding.org), a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization. To learn more, visit www.projectahimsa.org.

Contact Information

Sandeep Bhatt

Program Manager

Project Ahimsa

Contact via E-mail