By AAKASH M. PATEL
The long-anticipated wait for the Diwali Nights fundraiser is nearing an end. The event, which kicks off the Kamla Project, is set for the evening of Oct. 27. The Kamla Project is a collaboration initiated between Voices for Children, and Rahul Mehra, a board-certified child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist who has been practicing in Tampa for the last 15 years. Voices for Children is a local organization that appoints a community volunteer to become the “voice” for a child in foster care. The Kamla Project is named in honor and remembrance of Mehra’s late mother, Kamla Kapur Mehra. “Her dedication, passion and love for children has been a lifelong inspiration for me,” said Mehra.The mission of the project is threefold. First, provide free one-time psychiatric evaluation services to foster children and foster parents. The specific goal of such evaluations is to significantly shorten the time for finalization of adoptions for the children. Second, the Kamla Project will provide training and resource to the Guardian ad Litem Program in Hillsborough County. Lastly, it looks to promote public awareness in partnership with Voices for Children for the special needs of children in foster care. The Diwali Nights fundraiser is set at 7 p.m. and is open to anyone. The honorary chairman is Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum. For information, visit http://www.kamlaproject.orgAakash M. Patel is secretary of the Indo-US Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee and has been a Khaas Baat contributor since 2005. He can be reached at Aakash.M.Patel@gmail.com
