C hennai Willingdon Corporate Foundation (CWCF) is a unique initiative in which 54 corporates from Chennai have come together to support a variety of projects and institutions in an effort to maintain the cultural, ethical and social ethos and traditions of Chennai and its environs. The corporates behind this initiative remain anonymous and their motives are truly altruistic.
Hon’ble Minister for Textiles Dayanidhi Maran presenting a memento to V Narayanan Founder Director CWCF.(From l to r): Arun Mammen, MV Subbiah, S Balasubramanyan, N Sankar, Dayanidhi Maran, V Narayanan, VL Dutt and MK Kumar.
Born out of the proceeds of the corpus fund after the sale of the erstwhile Willingdon Nursing Home, the CWCF utilises the annual earnings of about Rs. 1.5 crores to support institutions and individuals engaged in medical, research, cultural and other activities in the city.
Union Minister of Textiles Dayanidhi Maran was the Chief Guest. Speaking at the function Dayanidhi Maran lauded the foundation’s help to the poor and the needy in society in the form of health care and social welfare projects and activities.
He also praised the foundation for funding research activities besides improving the lifestyle of people in the slums. In the last 10 years since its inception, 74 voluntary organisations and institutions benefi tted through the funding of nearly Rs. 12 crore from this foundation. A function to commemorate a decade of service of the CWCF was held at Hotel Taj Coromandel on 29 January 2010.
S ankara Nethralaya Chairman SS Badrinath recalled CWCF’s generous contribution to research on glaucoma.
Chairperson of the Cancer Institute Dr V Shanta said that the organisation had received Rs. 1.09 crore f rom CWCF to fund programmes in detection of hereditary cancer and cancer prevention and setting up a tumour tissue bank.
Madras Diabetes Research Foundation’s president V Mohan said an in-depth study on diabetes and its prevention was made possible byCWCF’s donation.
Sevalaya’s managing trustee V Muralidharan spoke on the progress his free school for children of agricultural labourers has made, with the Foundation’s funding.
The Foundation’s director V Narayanan released the book “A Slum No More” by N Byravan on a slumimprovement project at Annai Sathya Nagar, Chennai.
A section of the audience at the function.
(From l to r): N Sankar, Union Minister for Textiles
Dayanidhi Maran, V Narayanan, VL Dutt.
N Sankar paid rich tributes to 91-year-old V Narayanan, the dynamic, ever active CWCF director.
A view of the audience present at the function.