Greetings to one and all from “Team CCOT”. As I enter the third year to lead the CCOT Team, We, “Team CCOT” are thrilled to share our progress.

Funday

On 3rd December 2023, the Flagship Program of CCOT, where it all started more than 50 years ago went well, despite rains playing spoilsport for a while. The Children from 12 different Homes were ferried by Bus to reach Club between 8.00 to 8.30 AM. They were then served with a sumptuous breakfast. After breakfast, everyone gathered in the quadrangle. We had a unique program set for the children namely “Drum Circle”. This was a big hit with the Children. Professionals on stage set the rhythm and the children reverberated with great enthusiasm. In between this we distributed Wind Cheaters to all the children. Next were the cultural activities organised by each participating Home. These activities included dance, music and various performance that showcased the rich cultural diversity of the community. Following the cultural activities, the highlight of the event was the talent competition, where participants showcased their skills and abilities. Throughout the day, there were also lots of fun and games organized by the members. The atmosphere was lively and energetic. The competition was judged, and the winners were awarded prizes. After the talent competition, everyone gathered for a sumptuous lunch, Children were sent off with a School Bag with lots of goodies in the bag. They were extremely thrilled to receive the same. We would like to express our sincerest gratitude to all the Donors for their generous donations. Donors in Cash namely Mr. Thomas Sudharshan, Mr. Tony Stephen who sponsored the Lunch and Breakfast respectively. Mr. Mahesh Rao, Mr. Ashok Sharma, Mr. Denzil Veigas, Mr. Oscar D’Silva, Ms. Preethi Veigas, Mr. Chetan, Mr. Ben Mathias, Mr. Tushar John Fernandes Prabhu. Mr. John Fernandese, Mr. Lawrence Pinto, Mr. Dilip D’Souza, Ms. Joanna Preethi Pinto, Ms. Ashalatha Yvette, Ms. Anne Pereira, Mr. Colin Pereira, Mr. Santosh Appakuttan, Mr. Devarajan P, Mr. Lauren Andrade, Mr. Sidramappa Biradar, Mr. Clarence Pereira, Mr. Nishan Pereira, Mr. Mark D’Souza, Mr. Madhukesh, Mr. Dianney, Mr. Peter Antony Lobo, Mr. Edgar Britto, Mr. Ajay Fernandes, Ms. Kruthika Stephanie Veigas, Mr. Thomas Ramapuram, Mr. Babu Joseph Mr. Cyrus Nanavati and many others. We also thank our Donors in kind namely, Mr. Nadeem from Midtown Rotary for sponsoring the Wind Cheaters, Mr. Sathyanathan from ITC, Ms. Millicent from Britannia Mr. Rajesh from Himalaya, Mr. Narayana Rao from Corner House who over the years, they have been contributing with Condiments, Toiletries and Ice cream. We also thank Mr. Nirav Mehta, Mr. Chetan, Mr. Claude Loren, M/s Plan B, M/sMustard Café, M/s Sidapur Coffee, Mr. Joel Rozario, Mr. Ralph Pinto, Ms. Rohini Majella, Mr. Suresh Nilyara and many more.

Medical:

The Medical Camp was organized for Asha Deep Girls Home, RTC Girls Home, St. Mary’s Boys Orphanage, St. Patrick’s Boys Home Chaitanya and Good Shepherd Home with the aim of providing medical check-ups and treatments to the children who might not have access to medical facilities. We were fortunate to have a team of dedicated medical professionals namely Dr. Bobby Joseph, Dr. Pretesh Kiran along with Dr. Ramesh assisted by their entire team for the medical camp which covered general health check-ups, eye examinations for a total of 300 children. Dr. Vijayalakshmi chipped in for the dental check-up. We are grateful to this team of doctors who volunteered with their time and expertise to make this event a great success, the team had a good time working together, accomplishing with enthusiasm and wholeheartedness along with tremendous help of all CCOT committee Members and Volunteers.

Talent Ease:

Our well-known ongoing initiative “Talent Ease” program continued at Asha Deep, RTC Girls, Good Shepherd Girls, Snehanilaya and St. Mary’s Girls for the total of 260 children, this program has been an incredible opportunity for children to learn, grow and develop new skills that will undoubtedly benefit in their personal and professional lives.

Golf Tournament:

For the first time we had organised the 14th Golf Tournament at Clover Greens. Mr. Austin Roach came forward to offer the Greens Free. 108 Golfers took part in the tournament. Our golf committee was led by our key committee members Mr. Austin Roach & Mr. Peter Prem. Mr. Venkat Bashyam was the Chairman for the Tournament. Our other golf committee members helped us to organize the tournament in an efficient manner. Mr. Sanjay D’Souza was the winner of the Catholic Club Best Golfer in the 14th Edition of the tournament. We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Ajit Rai from M/s Suprajit, Ms. Firdous from M/s Anand Rathi, Mr. Kush Jawar from M/s Featherlite, Mr. Sunil Vasanth from M/s Basant Builders, Mr. N Krishna Kumar from M/s Texline, Ms. Nasreen, Mr. Anand Joseph M/s Talin, Mr. Sujay from Biznustek, Mr. Prashanth from M/s HHV and Mr. Erol Fernandes from M/s Rosetta. We also thank our Kind Donors Ms. Millicent from M/s Britannia, Mr. Monappa from Nissin Foods, Mr. Rajesh from Himalaya, Sathyanathan from ITC, Ms. Smitha from Unibic, Mr. Sundeep from Titan, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Pramod Naidu, Mr. Rakesh, Mr. Shashi Kiran Lewis and Mr. Francisco Saldanha. We would like to extend our gratitude for their generosity and support, the donation was utilized to support the children by providing them with the resources they need and access to educational programs.

Infrastructure:

This year we had a huge emphasis on the infrastructure initiative. We provided Lockers to 2 homes, Bunker Beds to 2 homes, Water Purifiers to 3 homes, Water Dispensers, laundry Machine to 3 homes and some laptops and printers.

Hygiene:

After a gap we resumed the Hygiene Program where we supply menstrual pads for the children for all year-round requirement. This was sponsored by Lodge of Light 413. We thank them for their generosity.

Tuition:

This fiscal we added one more initiative namely Tuition. Here the Children from 10th Standard are taught one on one for better academics. We thank U&I and its Volunteers for their time and generosity.

The following are the initiatives of Catholic Club Orphans Trust:

1. Fun Day – Annual Christmas Party.
2. Medical – Annual Medical Camp.
3. Talent Ease – A program for Leadership Experience and Development
4. Golf – Fundraiser
5. Infrastructure – Certain essentials for the betterment of the children.
6. Hygiene – Hygiene products such as, sanitary napkins, sanitizers and toilet articles.
7. POCSO – Sessions conducted to raise awareness.
8. Career Guidance – Counselling to help them make the right career choices.
9. Placement – ICICI Foundation which specializes in imparting Training & Placement.
10. Tuition Fee – Paying the school fees directly on a case-to-case basis.
11. Ration – Ration delivery whenever there is a shortfall.
12. Tuition – Tuition support towards the Children to empower their futures.

A big thanks to The President Mr. Melville D’Souza & The Treasurers Mr. Sunil Coutinho and Lunita Pais D’sa who are the trustees of CCOT. We also thank members of catholic club and all the staff for their whole-hearted support and cooperation towards the success of the various activities of CCOT. Also thank all the CCOT committee members namely Mr. Dianney Lobo, Ms. Margaret Lavina, Mr. Praveen Jerome, Mr. Rohan Pais, Mr. Brian Dlima, Mr. Carlile Turner, Mr. Dilip Dsouza, Mr. Gilroy D’silva, Mr. Joey Santiago, Ms. Lunita Pais, Ms. Mable Pinto, Mr. Rex D’silva, Ms. Vinita Thumboochetty for all your unconditional support. We also thank Catholic Club members and their families who have come forward in making CCOT activities possible. In this academic season we lost one of our most prominent CCOT Committee members Mr. Dilip D’Souza. He was always there for every initiative. He came with his family and would be the last one to leave ensuring everything was taken care of. He would not hesitate to chip for any work. We, CCOT and the children will miss him dearly. May his soul rest in eternal peace. We also lost one of our CCOT Donors, Mr. Sidramappa Biradar. We look forward to your co-operation has you have extended over the years in and future as well. Thank you and God Bless.