Media Release
Maryland, Apr 16: The DC Mangalorean Association was founded by Letitia Joyce D’Souza of Hyattsville, Maryland, USA, in the year 1989.
V James Dante, in a media release said, "The Mangalorean Association was officially registered as a corporation in July 2010 in Maryland, USA. I took over as the 10th President of the Mangalorean Association in 2019, which was extended to a second term due to strong member support. In the current term, we have a dynamic and able committee of executive and general committee members, who are energetic and full of new ideas. Our current committee consists of 4 executive and 2 general committee members.
"At this time, I am very proud to announce that our association was granted the Non-profit status (501c3) in March 2022. This has been our dream goal and I want to recognize the contribution from the committee members and the volunteer members who were involved in the preparation, review, and submission of the necessary documents to obtain the approval.
"Moreover, I want to thank all our members who stood behind the association in support of this venture. Also having achieved the task that I had committed to when I took over as president of the association in 2019 gives me an immense sense of satisfaction since it has taken a lot of effort to finally accomplish this objective.
"We have received many kudos on this achievement from our members and several other Mangalorean Associations and cultural organizations. In addition to the several congratulatory messages received, here are a few excerpts from our own committee members:
“The MCA is now our very own nonprofit organization, giving all of us an opportunity to donate and invest in our community. As an all-volunteer organization, 100% of all donations comes directly back to us to grow our membership and celebrate our culture — for us and our next generation. As a nonprofit we will provide full disclosure and will be fully accountable to our members, giving them confidence that their donations will be well spent for the benefit of the community.
“The Nonprofit status will help the association extend its reach and increase its impact in fulfilling its mission of connecting Mangaloreans in the DC-Maryland-Virginia region
“This achievement will open new doors for our association to do the things that we could not previously attempt because of us not having the non-profit status. The possibilities are now endless!
"As I write this article, the Mangalorean Association is nearing 33 years and has stood up as a very successful organization and community, well known in the USA and around the world. The association has kept growing and more members have joined the community from DC, Maryland, and Virginia areas. We keep trying our best to grow the organization — in terms of membership and to bring people together. We are not merely focused on cultural/religious events but will continue to focus on social and charity-related work to fulfill the vision of our founder. Now that we have achieved the non-profit status, it makes these tasks much easier than before.
"At this time, I invite members and companies to come forward and support our association through donations so that we can continue to support charitable causes, in addition to organizing bigger cultural and religious events in the future. Please note that all the donations are tax-deductible.
"Please visit our website at https://www.mangaloreanassociation.org/ to learn more about our association, our upcoming events, and how to make a donation.
"On behalf of my committee, I want to thank everyone for your support, cooperation, and participation in various ways to make our association successful," he stated in the release.