St. Xavier’s University Kolkata Alumni Association (SXUKAA) celebrated the Philanthropy Day through conducting a blood donation camp and eye check-up camp respectively on August 25 - 26, 2023 in the university campus.

SXUKAA organises the Philanthropy Day Celebrations every year coinciding with the birthday of their beloved President, Rev. Dr. John Felix Raj, S.J. on August 26.

On that day, all the Jesuit Fathers, Sisters, Officers, faculty members, support staff members, students and alumni members celebrated the birthday of their beloved Father Raj.

Around 200 people including faculty members, support staff, students and alumni members of SXUK donated blood in the blood donation camp. The medical teams from the Blood Bank of Bidhannagar Sub Divisional Hospital and the Kothari Medical Centre Blood Bank cooperated with SXUKAA in collecting and preserving blood.

A free eye check-up camp was organised on August 26 for the benefit of poor villagers of Kanthalberia and Kulberia, the neighbouring villages of SXUK. Around 200 villagers got their eye sights tested free of cost by medical professionals.

SXUKAA will provide spectacles to 120 people and sponsor the cataract surgery of 30 patients, identified in the camp.

In the evening of August 26, SXUKAA celebrated Father Raj’s birthday through a cultural programme. A short video on the life of Father Raj was shown, followed by a cultural performance by the students.

“Rev. Dr. Felix Raj has dedicated his life for the service of society. Recommitting ourselves to the cause of the society as ‘men and women for others’ is perhaps the best gift that we can give Father”, said Mr. Vatsal Chirimar, Hony. Secretary of SXUKAA.

Father Raj spoke about how he was deeply inspired by the simplicity and humility of St. Teresa of Calcutta, with whom he shares his birthday. He thanked the alumni for their generosity and their attachment with their alma mater.

On the Philanthropy Day, the members of SXUKAA recommit themselves to the cause of the society apart from carrying out several philanthropic activities.

Vatsal Chirimar