The Fund for Indian Subcontinent Heritage (FISH) held its annual gala in September, raising $120,000 to support the Boys and Girls Clubs of Fresno County. The event took place on September 6 at Pardini’s and focused on funding the Phoenix Curriculum, a program designed to prevent gang involvement and substance abuse among youth aged 6 to 18.
The Phoenix Curriculum was introduced to the Boys and Girls Clubs by the Fresno State College of Health and Human Services. It offers education about opioid dangers, including fentanyl risks.
“We set out to unmask a crisis, and our community answered with courage and heart,” said Annu Bezwada, FISH board president.
Serving more than 3,300 youth each year across 14 clubhouses, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Fresno County provide safe environments with academic support and life skills programs. With this grant, the organization aims to extend the Phoenix Curriculum to reach an additional 260 young people in both rural and urban areas of Fresno County.
The program is already running at the club’s juvenile justice campus location. It helps youth make positive decisions, build resilience, and stay focused on their goals through mentoring, life skills training, and collaboration with local law enforcement.
“Sponsors, partners, and friends didn’t just fill a ballroom — they stood up for Fresno County’s kids and showed what it looks like when generosity meets purpose,” Bezwada added. “This was our strongest Gala yet, and I’m profoundly grateful. The unity we felt in that room will carry forward long after the lights go down.”
Funds from the gala will be used for various clubhouse services such as bringing guest speakers to locations, organizing outings for members, conducting Smart Moves prevention programs against gangs and drugs, supporting other program services and recognition incentives for participants, printing curriculum materials at each site, and covering costs for a bus trip to Los Angeles’ Museum of Tolerance.
