News updates

January 13, 2026 — East Meets West – Children’s Education Fund (EMW-CEF) celebrated its first year as a registered charity in Canada. “Many important milestones were achieved with the support of our generous donors and dedicated volunteers,” says Naraindra Prashad, Founder of EMW-CEF and Board President.

“Our first celebration was on February 25, 2025. That’s when we were informed by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) that official charitable status had been granted.”  As a registered charity, EMW-CEF is able to provide donors with receipts that are tax-deductible.

A tax-deductible receipt prompts the generosity of some donors.  More importantly, official charitable status sends a signal to the community that the charity has met the organizational rigor demanded by the CRA.

“Nearly $37,000 was raised in the first year of operation, thanks to the leadership of the EMW-CEF Board of Directors, who inspired the support of many community members,” says Prashad.  An estimated 2,000 hours of volunteer time was logged in 2025. 

An online launch event was held in April, followed by two community-based fundraising events in May and August. A fundraising appeal was held in the Fall.

In August, EMW-CEF announced it had awarded scholarships to five gifted young students living in impoverished communities in Rishikesh, India, through Khushi Charitable Society (Khushi CS). The scholarship ($600 Cdn per student) will pay for tuition, school supplies, uniforms and shoes, along with other school essentials for the 2025-2026 academic year.

Founded in 2002, Khushi CS is a registered non-government organization, funded by donations and sponsorships. The charity’s goal is to provide children living in impoverished communities with education, supplemental nutrition, medical assistance, and vocational training. Today, it supports more than 450 children.

“We’ve learned a lot during our first year of operation. The most important thing is we also we can do much more to support children and students living in impoverished communities,” says Prashad.

He explains: “Under our current charitable license, we are able to provide support for two narrow charitable purposes: scholarships/bursaries and school aid.

“That’s not good enough, We can and will do more. “We aspire to support children and students with food, shelter, health care, and medical care. We are in the process of requesting permission from the CRA to expand our mandate.”