Shri. Bhaskarrao Patil, then Administrative Officer of Dombivli Municipal Corporation (precursor to the present K.D.M.C.) and Shri. Avdhesh Sinha, then Thane District collector provided valuable guidance in the year 1982 for processing our grant proposal. This helped us in getting financial help of Rs. 1,00,000 every year for 5 consecutive years starting 1983. Since then initially Dombivli Municipal Corporation & later Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation has donated Rs. 18,15,000 to our organization to date.
The Central Government, Social Welfare Department, New Delhi for a grant of Rs. 2,50,000 for construction of premises in the year 1987-88 Rs.1,50,000/- and 1989-90 Rs.1,00,000/-.
In the initial period, students from various schools in Dombivli collected huge funds of Rs. 6,21,625 through door to door collection. Out of that sum, the students of Tilaknagar school collected Rs. 2,30,700.
Aastitva’s open theatre was named as ‘Adkar Sabhagriha’ inaugurated at the hands of renowned actor Smt.Sulochanabai.
In the past, two buses of the Maharashtra State Transport Undertaking used to bring our students from Dombivli bus stop and similarly a bus from Kalyan used to provide pick up and drop in morning and evening. Currently this facility is offered by K.D.M.C. transport.
Sometime in early 2005-06 we experienced considerable difficulty in raising the resources to complete the new building. At that time, we received a donation of Rs. 21 lacks(23.11.07) from one N.R.I. couple settled in U.S., Dr. Sanjay Ganpule& Smt. Smita Ganpule, daughter of Late Shri, Balasaheb Karve, the then chairman of the organization. The donation was for the hall & medical centre in the new premises. The hall was named as Shri. B.G. Karve & Smt. Vanita Karve sabhagriha, whereas the mini hall for medical centre was named as Shri. Ramchandra & Smt. Kamal Ganpule service centre.
Shri.Murli&Shri.Sequeraof State Bank of India helped us in receiving a donation for nearly Rs.15 lakh for the purchase of buying various items like chairs, podium stand, movable stage, overhead projector,laptop,computer trollies, dining table, water cooler and a lift. Similarly K.D.M.C. donated chairs, fans, tubes & exhaust fans for the new premises in the year 2010. Dr. Paras Gandhi donated Rs. 1,00,000 in 2009 for purchase of modern equipment in the Gym.Earlier he had also donated dining table, chairs &TV set for use in the hostel. In 2002-03, Shri. Prabhakar Gadre, on behalf of Shri & Smt. Karmarkar, donated Rs. 50,000 for a library. An amount of Rs. 2,57,385 was donated by the students of I.I.T.B. -84-H-6 batch, to be used for Speech Room.
The main egg vendor in Dombivli, Shri.S.S.Shetye, had been supplying 60 eggs free of charge everyday for the hostel students since 1992 to 2009.(till his demise). Shri. Gaurav Agarwal, the owner of Sandesh Sweets & Nirmal milk project, supplied 20 litres of milk everyday for a period of three years free of charge for the hostel.
Astitva receives donations both in kind and in cash from numerous people and institutions situated in India and abroad. Not all of them have been identified on this site nor is it feasible to name all of them individually. We remain ever grateful to all for the support and goodwill.Through such donations in kind we are able to conserve cash in the day-to-day running of the institution. We also now have several useful items such as steel cupboards, chairs, fans, radios, computers and TV set whose monetary value has not been made but would turn out to be quite significant.
The print media has always supported our work and many press persons have covered the institution in glowing terms. Notable amongst these are Shri. Jayprakash Pradhan and Shri.Shrikant Tol (Maharashtra Times), Shri. Shridhar Joshi (Loksatta), Shri. Vikas Katdare (Samna), Shri.Sudhir Joglekar (Tarun Bharat & Loksatta),Shri.Bhagwan Mandlik (Loksatta),Dr.Sunil Sharma (Times of India),Shri. Sanjeev Latkar (Sakal). We are very grateful to them. The electronic media has also done its contribution. Akashwani and Doordarshan through the program ‘Dnyandeep’ have made our organization known to entire Maharashtra.
A two part television show titled “DhinaDhinDha” (images) on Sahyadri Channel showcased the full spectrum of the activities of Astitva. Special thanks go to the producer Shri Malakraj Panchabhai and the crew of the channel.
Many volunteers have contributed a great deal to the growth of Astitva and to the care and development of its students. Many are doing so now and we are sure more will come forward as we go along. However two names strike as most significant. Since 1985, Smt. Ganga Hegde & since 1991, Smt. Vrinda Khare have been working as honorary staff in our Workshops.