Date:15/08/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/08/15/stories/2006081504760400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

AKKA donates $70,000 to nine schools

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: A delegation of 33 officials and artistes is expected to visit the U.S. soon, where an agreement will be signed with the Mayor of New York and a memorandum of understanding with the Governor of Illinois, according to Amarnath Gowda, chairman of the Association of Kannada Kootas of America (AKKA).

Mr. Gowda told presspersons here on Monday that the association was active not only in the cultural field but also in charitable activities.

For the past two years, AKKA, through its AKK Charitable Foundation, had provided financial help to the victims of various disasters, including the Gujarat earthquake, the tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, which devastated parts of the U.S.

Nine schools in the State were presented cheques on Monday worth $70,000 as part of the association's charity initiatives.

In the literary field, AKKA had published the collected volumes of Kuvempu's works for Kannadigas in America, he said.

AKKA proposed to hold a one-day business forum soon where association members could meet U.S.-based industrialists and businessmen and explore potential business tie-ups, Mr. Gowda added.