From Prosthetic Hands to Health Care: Rotary Club of Poona Downtown Turns 40
Pune, 22nd January 2026: The Rotary Club of Poona Downtown celebrated 40 years of service with a grand anniversary ceremony at E-Square, The Fern Hotel, marking four decades of community work, fellowship and social impact.
The event was attended by Rotary District 3131 Governor Santosh Marathe, former Rotary International Director Dr Mahesh Kotbagi, past district governors Shital Shah, Pankaj Shah and Madhav Borate, Assistant Governor Dr Zimra Israel, and several Rotarians and representatives of social organisations.
A short film tracing the club’s journey, milestones and key projects was screened and received an enthusiastic response from the audience.
Addressing the gathering, Club President Aditi Bhende highlighted the club’s flagship initiatives. “Through our ‘Gift of Mobility – LN4’ project, we have distributed over 14,000 prosthetic hands free of cost across India.
We have also built a school for differently abled children in Shikrapur, supported a free ICU and dialysis centre at Khedekar Hospital in Bopodi, and worked on nutrition support for TB patients, kidney care awareness, eye check-ups, subsidised cataract surgeries, blood donation camps, and the upliftment of girls in Pune’s slum areas,” she said.
Bhende also thanked corporate partners and supporting organisations for strengthening the club’s work over the years.
CSR partners including Chemetall India, Duroshox, Serum Institute, Desai Electronics, RSB Foundation, Weikfield and Darshana Industries were felicitated for their financial and collaborative support. Partner organisations such as KEM, Janseva, Inali, Yardi and Niramay were also honoured for helping the club achieve its service goals.
Rotary District Pune’s top donors, Rotarian Anil and Neeru Goel, were recognised for their generous contributions. R.K. Behera of the RSB Group was felicitated for receiving a doctorate from the President of India.
The programme was moderated by Rtn Aashima Agashe, with organisational support from Rtn Pervin Sadekar and Rtn AG Dr Zimra Israel.
