EmPOWER DIVA – एक प्रयास by Sharmita Banerjee Bhinder

EmPOWER, NGO for special children is collaborating with Rotary International Zirakpur for EmPOWER DIVA for fundraising. The fundraiser is for the special children whom we sponsor for education, medication, and rehabilitation.

EmPOWER, NGO are also proud to have added the Wheelchair Cricket Association, Punjab four years ago to provide them support for their diet, travel, and other requirements. The wheelchair cricketers are of national and international fame having been declared the No. 1team in India and a few players from this team have been a part of internationally won cricket matches.
They have hosted EmPOWER DIVA every year for the last five years, excluding years lockdown was in effect, to create awareness about special children. Special children will do a fashion walk with celebrity models, and Ms. And Mrs. India from the current and previous years. A unique concept created with the idea of giving special children exposure. This year, they will also be having a dedicated fashion show to showcase designers and brands.

Date: 7th MAY, 2022
Time: Drinks and dinner, 7PM – 12AM
Venue: Ramada Plaza

About EmPOWER : EmPOWER was created with the vision of creating a parent support group to empower the parents of special children by connecting them with other parents of special children, special educators, and psychologists so that they could seek the help they required in raising their children. We also sought to create a public forum for spreading awareness about mental disability so that knowledge and experiences
could be openly shared and the conversation about mental health and illness was normalized. This normalization has set free a lot of special children who would’ve otherwise been kept in social isolation, but because of EmPOWER, the parents of those children can now have them be included in the mainstream.
EmPOWER organizes events like fashion shows and carnivals not only as fund-raisers but also as a platform where special children and people with disabilities can partake in activities without discrimination and the focus is on the abilities of each individual. EmPOWER organizes projects such as the distribution of sanitary pads, with over 2 lakh distributed, and projects to facilitate medication, healthcare, and education of special children. EmPOWER consists of a team of special educators and psychologists who provide consultation to parents of special children and therapy to special children and people with disabilities. The network of EmPOWER also consists of lawyers so EmPOWER has also taken up advocacy projects.
About the organizer :
Sharmita Banerjee Bhinder: A renowned poet, writer, blogger, and thought activist residing in the beautiful city of Chandigarh. She started her journey with a Degree in Law and after practicing for two years chose to move to Soft Skills. As a Trainer-Mentor-Coach for the last twenty-five years, she has been training students and MNCs in spoken and life skills.

She has been a successful Entrepreneur & Businesswoman with a chain of salons by one of the first Internationally certified makeup artists. Looking after and healing her special child, she trained in specific learning disabilities and challenges, guidance and counseling, and in various healing modules including Reiki, Pranic and Spiritual Healing.
As the Spiritual Healer in her began to dominate the other aspects of life she chose to start EmPOWER an NGO for special children. The focus here was to amalgamate the special children into mainstream society with normal children as well as create a common platform for each human. She is the State President for the Mentoring & Soft Skills Council of the Women’s Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (WICCI) Punjab Chapter and Chapter Head of All Ladies League (ALL) Chandigarh Chapter, sister organization of the Women Economic Forum (WEF). She has been the Charter General Secretary of Rotary Club, Zirakpur. She is a member of the Indian Women Network, an initiative by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). She is the vice-president of the Punjab Wheelchair Cricket Association and Para Sports Society of Chandigarh.

She has received many accolades including but not limited to the Iconic Woman of The Year by the Women Economic Forum (WEF), Lifetime Achievement Award in Social Work by the Public Relations Council of India, Award for Exemplary Work in the Field of Social Work by the Lifestyle Magazine.
Past Events :
EmPOWER Carnival- On 12th December 2015, EmPOWER celebrated World Ability Day in the form of a huge carnival at the lake club where different ability was celebrated for the first time with regular performances and those by special children.

The carnival had three hundred special children present who were given sponsored gifts, food, and beverages. There were lots of games, magic shows, puppet shows, tattoo artists, and costumed performers. To add to the carnival festival, we had Zumba, bhangra fitness, three live bands, and Punjabi singers alongside performances by special children. An exhibition was put up with display and food stalls on the lake grounds. Three thousand people attended the carnival. Our chief guests were Congress leader and former Chandigarh Mayor, Mr. Pardeep Chhabra, and the UT Advisor, Mr. Vijay Kumar Dev, and we had Punjabi film actor, Rana Ranbir Singh, as our celebrity guest. In collaboration with INIFD and other leading designers, there was a Fashion Show where the special children’s ramp walked with the models.
Charity Ball- Held on May 15th at Hyatt Regency powered by Can and Able Entertainment Company, Hyatt Regency, API Ansal, Times of India, Strands, INIFD, IVY Hospital, and Zaira Diamonds. Our chief guest was the Mayor of Chandigarh, Mr. Arun Sood, and our celebrity guest was Punjabi film actor, Gurpreet Ghuggi. Other highlights of the events were Alfaz, the famous Punjabi singer, Rammya Singh, winner of Miss India Globe 2016. Our jury consisted of Gladrags finalist 2009, Dr. Neetu Narula, and Management Head of Strands, Raman Johar.
A fashion show was held at the event with special children participating along with leading models like Femina Miss India 2015 and film actress, Mansi Grewal; Ms. India international finalist, Ms. Neelam Garg; and students from INIFD; in outfits designed by Bahaar Chawla. Many special children performed on stage and were trained by Urban School of Dance, Varun D. Rana, and Varsha Rana. A live performance was also given by Vyatha the band. The trailer for the short film Asmadh selected for Cannes was screened for the first time at the Charity Ball.

Dance Aviators– A summer workshop, was held by EmPOWER and Dance Dacha by Jas K. Shan at Dance Dacha, British School. Jas K. Shan, an internationally trained dancer, and her team conducted a twelve-day workshop for 70 special children and 120 other children on 10th July 2017. An integrated program was
presented in Tagore Theatre.
EmPOWER DIVA 2016– The beauty pageant had thirty finalists and went on for five days. This includes grooming of the contestants, sub-contests, photoshoots, training, practice runs, and ramp walks. Ten influential women in the field of education were awarded on the day of the main event. Those awarded included Chairperson of the Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CCPCR) and ex-mayor of Chandigarh, Bibi Harjinder Kaur; Medical Director of Ivy Healthcare Group, Dr. Kanwaldeep; Doctor of Psychology with expertise in higher education, research, and conducting workshops, Dr. Vidhu Mohan; Founder Member of Prabh Aasra, Rajinder Kaur; Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Haryana, Rajni Sekhri
Sibal IAS; and others. Our judges for the main show were former model and Punjabi film actor, Sharhaan Singh; Mrs. India 2016, Anupama Sharma; Mrs. India Overseas, Deepti Katoch; and Miss Maxim India 2011, Heena Dang. Pre-show judges were Celebrity Aesthetic Physician, Dr. Neetu Narula; Yoga and Art Expert,
Arti Verma; and Director of Dance Dacha, Jas K Shan. We had Mrs. India 2017, Pallavi Sodhi, and international model, Neelam Garg, train and groom the contestants. We had three hundred guests at Hyatt. Fifty special children from Prabh Asra walked with renowned models like Neelam Garg, Mohini Grewal Sahota, and Miss Face of The Year 2013, Sam Rattan.
EmPOWER DIVA Special Walk at PU Rose Fest- This event was sponsored by Big FM, Connect Broadband, and Urban Mélange. We had INIFD as our design partner. We had thirty top models and about fifty special children who walked the ramp with them. Among the top models were Mrs. Tricity, Shallu Rakesh Gupta and Miss India Khadi, Gurleen Kaur Arora. We had a special performance of salsa by Arshleen Kaur, a deaf and mute child. We had a crowd of a thousand people encouraging the special children and models.

EmPOWER Walk at Meraki, a festival at Parade Ground- The show was inaugurated by former Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Member of Parliament from Ludhiana, Mr. Manish Tewari. We had live performances by Ninja (Amit Bhalla) for the special children. The main models were a Ukrainian Endocrinologist, Cosmetologist, and model, Tetiana Kapranova; TV actress, Jhanavi Bansal; and Mrs. Punjab Pride of Nation Ravishing 2017, Navpreet Kaur.

EmPOWER DIVA 2019– Held in Hyatt Regency, our main sponsors were Tynor and Divisa. Chief Guests were entrepreneur, Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Juneja; Executive Director of Tynor Orthotics, Mr. Arvinder Jit Singh; and RJ Meenakshi. We awarded ten women for contributions in the field of social work. Those included but weren’t limited to Special Educator and Co-Founder of SOCH Autism Society, Anjali Dada; Head fo Swabhavik Evening School for Underprivileged Children, Renu Mehta; Co-Founder of IKJ Care Foundation, Radhika Gurvinder Cheema; Co-Founder of Rainbow Ladies Club, Poonam Sharma; and Founder of Panchkula Ladies Club, Sharda Kathpalia. Fifty children from Patiala School for the Deaf & Blind participated in walking the ramp with thirty models. We had eminent women from all fields walking with the children including but not limited to black-belt in taekwondo and self-defense trainer for underprivileged children, Amita Marwah; Yoga teacher, Shobhna Juneja; Allora Mrs. India 2019, Millie Garg; Director of Queen’s Club, Chandigarh, Anita Khanna; and Founder of Stree Astitva- Sari Club, Gehena Mehra. We had three special women invited as guests- Bank Manager at Punjab National Bank, 70% physically challenged, Pooja Gupta; disability rights activist, Virali Modi; and acid attack survivor, Nasreen Jahan.
Elysian DIVA 2020– Held in Hyatt Regency, the event had a total of forty models, forty child models, and six designers from NIFD. Anmol Jewellers was our jewelry sponsor. Twenty influential women from Tricity were also present and walked the ramp. These included but weren’t limited to Fashion Icon at Diadem Mrs. India Legacy, Manjeet Sidhu; Mrs. India International Second Runner-Up, Ruby Singh; Mrs. India Inspiration 2019, Tarvinder Kaur; and Mrs. Charity International 2019, Dr. Vibha Bawa. Fifteen wheelchair cricketers participated with the models. Our chief guests were Kharar assembly constituency MLA, Mr. Kanwar Sandhu; Managing Trustee of Rani Breast Cancer Trust, Mrs. Bittu Safeena Sandhu; and Deputy Inspector General at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Ministry of Home Affairs, Mr. Shashi Bhushan Sharma. Our celebrity guests were Punjabi actor and model, Neet Mahal, and Mr. Punjab 2019, Gagan Verma.

EmPOWER has also held 40+ small and big workshops, shows, activities, conferences, and talks with eminent people from Chandigarh, India, and beyond.
Mediums of Sponsorship
There are two ways you can sponsor our event:
1. Provide a Cash Donation to underwrite the expenses of our event.
2. Provide In-kind Products or Services to aid in the facilitation of the event such as food supplies, sound equipment, gift bags for the special children, presents for the chief and celebrity guests, awards for the winners of the fashion show, etc.

Promote Your Identity, Not Just Your Brand.
As an official sponsor, depending on the type of partnership, we will promote your brand in the best of ways. We plan to consistently promote the event and its partners, performers, and sponsors on social media platforms- before, during, and after the event.


Why Sponsor EmPOWER DIVA?
By sponsoring us you will be contributing to society by aiding us in our mission of raising awareness of the issues faced by persons with disabilities- both mental and physical, special education, and treatment options for those seeking help. You will also be supporting our initiative of involving special children into social gatherings and increasing their public participation so that they, and others like them, would no longer need to be kept isolated from the rest of society. By supporting us, you will become an indispensable part of a movement to normalize the discussion of mental health and to normalize openly seeking help. You will also gain access to our vast network of special educators, psychologists, social workers, lawyers, and parents of special children. Being a part of this network will allow you to expand your prospects.

Deliverables
1. Present the event (Title sponsor exclusive)
2. Brand name/logo placement on all printed matter such as backdrop, banners,
standees etc.
3. Use of sponsor products by the performers/anchor (Title sponsor exclusive)
4. Sponsor jingle to be played before and after the event (Title and Main
sponsor)
5. Mention of sponsor on all social media activities.
6. Mention of sponsor on all press releases.
7. Distribution of any sponsor literature/coupon/merchandise at the venue.
8. Sponsor can conduct contests/activities at the venue before the start of the
event. (Title and Main Sponsor exclusive)

If interested, kindly contact Mrs. Sharmita Bhinder at sharmitabhinder@yahoo.com or at (call or WhatsApp)  +91 9023226222