Celebration of Life Fundraisers
Honoring the life of a loved one, the AVI USA Celebration of Life Memorial Fundraiser helps you continue their love for a beautiful cause.
Read about our previous events below.
Bryan
Bryan Walton was an early Aurovilian whose always heart remained in Auroville, in spite the distance and the passage of time. Bryan started Malarchi Boarding School while living in Auroville. Bryan remained deeply connected to Malarchi and keeping it alive and thriving in the future became one of his deepest longings.
Before his passing, Bryan planned his last farewell to Malarchi. He and his dear wife, Fanou, wrote a letter about his love and long history with them. They sent the letter to his friends and encouraged them to give generously to continue his work into the future. His online memorial served both as a remembrance of Bryan and a a new beginning for Malarchi.
Daniel
Daniel Brewer loved Auroville beyond anything else. When he left, he thought it was temporary, but he eventually established a life with the Auroville diaspora in California. Daniel was part of Auroville’s fabric and cared deeply about his Tamil neighbors in Kottakarai. He was one of the first westerners to be fluent in Tamil, and joyfully worked side by side with his village craftsmen friends, as they exchanged skills and learned from each other.
A few years before Daniel passing, his cataract surgery complications resulted in total blindness. His family came together to honor Daniel’s love for his Auroville village brothers and sisters with an Online Memorial. During the memorial, The Daniel Brewer Legacy Fund for Aurokiya Eyecare was established, with direct mission of preventing blindness in the bioregion. Aurokiya had been established in Auroville a few years prior, and Daniel’s Legacy Fund has supported them since 2022. Aurokiya brings free eye screenings and subsidized eye care to all Aurovilians and bioregion residents.
David
David Nagel was a well-known and loved Aurovilian. He arrived in Auroville in the late 1970’s and it became his permanent home until his final days in July 2023. David was a special soul, joyful, sincere, and loved by many. He had a special connection to the forests, having spent much of his earlier years planting trees in the Greenbelt of Auroville. He also had a special connection to children. David served in Centre Field Kitchen in Auroville’s early days, providing after-school meals for kids. Later on in Revelation Forest, his door was always open to groups of kids coming to spend time there after school.
David’s family felt that it would be fitting to support the newly established yearlong Ecological Mentoring Program at the Botanical Garden with a scholarship fund in David’s name. They created the David Nagel Memorial Scholarship at the Auroville Botanical Gardens, fully sponsoring one or more young people to explore forestry or another ecological field, mentored by the senior staff of Auroville’s famous Botanical Gardens.
Shraddhavan
Shraddhavan is the Sanskrit name given by the Mother in June 1972 to a young Englishwoman who left her country to join the upcoming project of Auroville in 1970. Shraddhavan means ‘one who has faith in the higher being.’ She fully embraced her name.
In November 1970, she was sent by The Mother to Auroville to teach in the newly started school in Aspiration. But the work for which she will always be remembered is her work as Project Coordinator of Savitri Bhavan, which along with her partner, Helmut, she built up from its inception.
Shraddhavan’s greatest wish was that her work at Savitri Bhavan lives on. We were able to support her wishes with the help of her family and raised funds for the continued work of Savitri Bhavan.