LOS ANGELES: American Telugu Association (ATA), a leading association of non-resident Indians in the US, celebrated ATA Roju in Los Angeles on February 23 to raise funds and membership for ATA. An announcement was made at the function about the upcoming 10th ATA conference and Youth Convention to be held on July 3, 4 and 5 at Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey.

Several prominent members and American Telugu Association leaders attended this function. Among them were philanthropist Dr Prem Sagar Reddy , ATA former President Dr Mohan Mallam, ATA 2006 conference convener Dr Dharma Reddy, ATA president-elect Jithender Reddy, Dr Sanjeev Reddy, International Coordinator Raising Telugu Star Dr Haranath Policherla of ATA and several other board of trustees, standing committee and conference committee members.

The event was a huge success with a large turn around of Telugu community from all over the region. The event was well organized by ATA West coast wing, currently being headed by Nataraj Madireddy (local coordinator for California, Arizona & Hawaii region). The program raised funds of about $127k, which included generous contributions from Dr Prem Sagar Reddy and other prominent members.

Not only was this event financially successful but also emphasized the importance of ATA raising and distributing funds for various charitable activities and providing financial aid to the victims of natural and other emergencies. The event was held to create awareness of ATA's objectives and goals and also an overall effort to create awareness of the membership privileges and benefits.During the event, various cultural programs were performed by children from local dance schools.

The programs also included very entertaining and hilarious mimicry, classical dances, folk dances and film songs. In his speech, Nataraj Madireddy welcomed the gathering and thanked the members for their generous support and contributions to ATA.

He thanked ATA team Buchi Reddy, Lakshman Koka,Vikram Varma,Suneel Ralangi, Sujit Vadi, Ravi Kumar Boddu, Venkat Eerammala, Narasimha Reddy, YSR, KVN, Ramesh Gattu, Gautham Reddy, Vikram Bojjam, Vijaypal Kesireddy, Kiran Juvadi, Harsha Atmakur, Nandu,Pradeep Varma, Amar, Suri, Ranga Thakkalapally, Shiva, Hemanth kothanda, Satish, Usha Gorti, Kishore Mamillapalli, Shivaram, Veerababu, Dr Sindhuri, Silpa Mamidi, and Rachana Mamidi.