In an inner-city Baltimore neighborhood marked by violence and drug trafficking – mere blocks from the open-air narcotics market immortalized in the HBO series “The Corner” – the St. Luke’s Youth Center is a visible symbol of hope. Through after-school and “Safe Saturday” programs, it provides balanced meals, fellowship, computer access and academic support to neighborhood youth: an oasis of safety in a dangerous, crime-ridden area. St. Luke’s Summer Camp serves up to 100 young people, using crafts, cooking, games, movies, and field trips to enrich the lives of children who otherwise would have nowhere to go but the streets during summer vacation. These children are our future, and they deserve our help!

Achieving economic self-sufficiency is the key to personal autonomy, but for unemployed women seeking a new job and a fresh start, the barriers are high. Finding a good job requires an interview suit; starting one requires a business wardrobe to get through the workweek. The problem? Unemployment – even underemployment – leaves women cash-strapped, unable to afford the clothes they need to rejoin the workforce. Baltimore’s Suited to Succeed (STS) can help, providing free interview suits to women seeking work, and three to five additional outfits once the client secures a position. STS also provides career-related workshops, empowering women to succeed in the workplace – a goal that dovetails with the values of the MurthyNAYAK Foundation.

Further information is available at www.suitedtosucceed.org.

Despite India’s recent economic growth, poverty and its attendant maladies remain widespread there. The need for private development funding remains urgent, particularly now that many foreign governments are reassessing their international aid priorities. Yet many donors are hesitant to make social investments in India without robust and transparent mechanisms to ensure that their money will be used as intended. Enter the Global India Fund, which is creating the infrastructure to channel philanthropic investments to nonprofits with a proven track record of organizational effectiveness, transparency, and accountability. It carefully screens Indian nonprofits so that donors can invest in their work with confidence – secure in the knowledge that their contributions will do the full measure of good.

Read more about their work at www.globalindiafund.org.

FIRN — this Howard County nonprofit empowers immigrants, refugees, asylees, and other foreign-born individuals, offering a comprehensive array of services to newcomers from more than 75 countries: services such as immigration counseling, English language classes, interpreting, and referrals to health and human services agencies that assist immigrant clients. FIRN, which stands for Foreign-Born Information and Referral Network, was founded in the early eighties by Pat Hatch, a social entrepreneur who recognized the need for a place where immigrants could ask questions in a supportive environment. FIRN’s mission closely parallels that of the MurthyNAYAK Foundation: to welcome immigrants, and help them to become stakeholders in the common life of our society – to help them achieve their American dream!

Further information is on the web at www.firnonline.org.

On April 29, 2013, Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland held its 22nd Annual Culinary Extravaganza fundraiser, celebrating the joys of good food and good company — just what Meals on Wheels brings to over 3,000 homebound, frail, and elderly people in the Baltimore-Washington area every day, five days a week, rain or shine.

Over 425 people attended this year’s circus-themed event, Cirque de la Cuisine. They were greeted at the door by stilt walkers, fire jugglers and a candid photo booth with circus props, and treated to spectacular hors d’oeuvres and desserts from a Who’s Who of Baltimore’s greatest chefs.

The event raised more than $150,000, thanks to generous donors like Vasant Nayak, who contributed not one but two of his photographs, beautifully framed, for the event’s silent auction. Mr. Nayak is a photographer and digital artist who has exhibited his work in the United States and internationally, in individual and group shows. He has travelled the world to capture photographs of matchless beauty, suffused with an artistry that is at once cosmopolitan, spiritual, and deeply humanitarian.

The MurthyNAYAK Foundation is delighted to support the work of Meals on Wheels, especially at a time when federal funding is on the wane, due to sequestration. We support this cause because we know every life matters!

Further information on Meals on Wheels is on the web at www.mealsonwheelsmd.org.