Dear Members,
As MCIA 2008 Committee signs off and passes over the responsibilities to 2009 MCIA Committee, we would like to take this opportunity to THANK all our members who have been part of MCIA and look forward for your continued support in the years to follow. We would also like to THANK all our committee members who have spent many tireless hours in bringing together and successfully executing various events throughout the year.
Highlights of MCIA 2008 committee efforts include:
- Updated and approved By-Laws.
- MCIA registered as a Non-profit organization with the state.
- MCIA members Directory.
- New look and feel to our website - www.ourmcia.org.
- Totally streamlined Election process with the state of the art functionality to submit nominations electronically.
- Record number of membership - 291 members - out of which we have 127 new members!! What an achievement! This is a record by itself!
- Diwali Dinner ticket price - A record low amount of $5 ! Our committee created history by offering the Diwali Dinner ticket price at $5.00. This was our way of thanking all MCIA members for their continued support to this organization. Our committee was committed to giving back not only to the community we live in, but also to the members, who play as the pillars of this organization.
- By thinking outside the box, our committee was able to generate some extra revenue for our organization through Sponsorships. This helped our committee to organize and plan some very good and high quality programs/events for our community members without having to cut corners and compromise on the quality of the events due to budget constraints. Our committee had organized a total of 31 events during 2008, which by itself is a remarkable achievement!
- Community Service - This year, one of our community members passed away fighting cancer. MCIA initiated and mobilized a fund raising effort within our community, where we all came together and helped our fellow Indian community member in need.
- Our committee stood up to the local security concern about the recent spate of burglary incidents in our community. Organized awareness training sessions with the Bloomington Police Department, Escalated the issue to the local authorities (Senator, US State Representative, Mayors and Police Commissioners) through a 'Letter of Concern' which was endorsed by the community, electronically. MCIA is closely working/following up with the local police authorities on this issue.
- Media Coverage - Visibility in the local community - Newspaper coverage of all major events that were organized by MCIA. Diwali Dinner-2008 celebration was covered by Pantagraph on its front page edition of November 17th
Our committee is proud to have gotten the opportunity to serve our community in 2008, thus bringing lot of visibility to MCIA as an organization and also to our Indian community in this town! This will be the last communication from MCIA2008 committee and we would like to wish all the VERY BEST to MCIA 2009 Committee!
Thanks & Regards,
Vinod Nambiar,
President - MCIA 2008,
www.ourmcia.org
