Prem Rawat Foundation
The Prem Rawat Foundation[1] is a 501(c)3 public charitable organization[2]registered in California, U.S.. It is dedicated to promoting and disseminating the lectures, speeches, art, music, humanitarian efforts, and public forums of Prem Rawat, known also as "Maharaji", and publishes a wide range of communication materials to present his message to people around the world. This message, according to the Foundation's publications, is a message of peace and personal fulfillment [3], which is made available in more than 88 countries and 70 languages, and is entirely supported by voluntary contributions and the sale of related materials. In 2007, the Foundation was evaluated by the Better Business Bureau using twenty criteria for assessing the accountability of a non profit organization. Following this evaluation, the Foundation was accepted in the "Wise Giving Alliance" of the Better Business Bureau, whose membership is reserved for organizations that have met the BBB's standards of management accountability.[4]
According to its website, the Foundation spearheads or supports humanitarian initiatives. It regularly holds free medical clinics in India and, in 2005, made contributions the United Nations World Food Programme, allowing it to feed for a month more than 9,000 persons in Indonesia [5], 6,000 in Pakistan, 2,000 in Niger as well as 4,500 schoolchildren in Guatemala. Its website declares that it has sponsored a food aid program for schoolchildren in Sri Lanka and made a donation to the Houston Food Bank, which made it possible to provide three meals a day to 8,500 victims of Hurricane Katrina for three months. Other initiatives discussed on its website include the development of a facility in northern India where hundreds of free meals will be provided daily to adults and children year-round. [6]
The Philippine National Red Cross reports a donation by the foundation, made to assist the affected families landslides that hit the village of Guinsaugon in Southern Leyte in early February 2006. [7]
Rotary International describes the foundation as being established by Prem Rawat to "to improve the quality of life for the disadvantaged." [8]
References
- ↑ The Prem Rawat Foundation website
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedguidestar - ↑ Maharaji on Peace. The Prem Rawat Foundation. Retrieved on 2007-01-08.
- ↑ Charity report. BBB Wise Giving Alliance.
- ↑ Media Advisory. Friends of the World Food Programme (June 5, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-01-08.
- ↑ Humanitarian initiatives. The Prem Rawat Foundation. Retrieved on 2007-01-08.
- ↑ The Prem Rawat Foundation donates to the Red Cross for landslide victims. The Philippine National Red Cross (November 3, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-01-08.
- ↑ Young professionals from 42 countries meet in Malmö to promote international understanding. Rotary International (June 7, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-01-08.