Dear Lohana Community,
 
It is with deep humility that my family & I, once again, thank you for your confidence in me to serve the Lohana Samaj in the role of the 2017 President of the Lohana Charitable Foundation (LCF). 
 
As you witnessed at the Annual General Meeting, the Lohana community is now in transition to the newer, younger generation ready to assume the leadership of the LCF. 
 
I wanted to personally thank the Samaj for your support and attendance at the various Lohana community programs and events. Although this was a transition year, we noticed that there was an evident increase in the attendance of events such as the annual Picnic, Bhajans, Garbas, Chopda Poojan, Diwali Dinner, the AGM, and more importantly at the community funerals and shradhanjali bhajans. 
 
We are a proud community - let’s all encourage participation by the entire community at all events.  It is only then we can be proud of our strong heritage and identity. We must continuously strengthen our Samaj for the sake of our seniors and our children, who are the future of our community. The larger presence at our events provides a feeling of a united community.  So, please, make your best effort to attend events during the coming year to show we care and that we are together.
I would like to thank the Lohana Samaj, on behalf of the 2017 Board Members, for giving us the opportunity to serve the community during the past year.  We are proud and honored to have the opportunity to serve you. We have had a wonderful year and it was great seva for us all.
 
As the outgoing President, I would also like to extend my sincere gratitude to the Board of Directors (Mitesh Kantaria, Leena Raja, Sejal Thakrar, Ashit Chandarana, Sharmil Mithia & Bhagirath Raichada; our esteemed funeral/bereavement committee, and all the volunteers who unconditionally supported us during the year in organizing Bhajans, Navratri, Picnic, Chopda Poojan, Diwali Dinner, AGM and other events during the year.
 
We also salute the many Lohanas who serve in leadership positions in other organizations, temples, political lobbying and many more. We also applaud the many Lohanas for their charitable and philanthropic activities. Thank you all for your gracious and spiritual Seva.
 
As we move towards the 50th anniversary as a community in Canada, we   should be very proud as an organization, and as Lohanas. Our community has made tremendous progress in Canada, with three new generations of Lohanas having built on their parents pioneering spirit. We possibly have one of the highest academic achievements as a community and are very successful as business leaders and professionals in numerous fields. Many Lohanas proudly play a very important role in community leadership, in broader Hindu and Indo-Canadian communities.
 
Now, our new committee headed by Mitesh Kantaria will assume leadership of the Samaj; and, together with Committee Members - Deval Chandarana, Sheetal Dave, Meesha Tanna, Mehul Panchmatia, Alka Panchmatia, Sharmil Mithia, Hetal Kara, Amar Gadhia and Sejal Thakrar - will take our proud community to even higher levels as we move towards the 50th anniversary as a community in Canada.
 
So, let’s all give these new leaders a great welcome with all the encouragement, support, ideas, and our individual commitment to make Lohanas, the Raghuvanshis, even prouder as a community.
 
Thank you very much for your support over the past year.
 
Warm Regards, 
 
Kamlesh Thakrar
and the Board of Directors - 2017 Lohana Charitable Foundation