GLENDALE, California, Sep., 08, 2005
Mohinder Paul
NRI press
NRI (non-resident Indian), Bhupesh Parikh and his
wife Kumud donate $1 million to Glendale Community
College, for the allied health/digital multimedia
building currently under construction.
Bhupesh Parikh came to the U.S. from India three
decade ago, earned his Masters degree in structural
engineering from USC. Parikh established a business
in Glendale as a structural engineer and builder,
credited with building many of the homes in the Verdugo
Woodlands/College Park area of Glendale.
NRI Parikh and his family also believe strongly in
education. "I believe smaller colleges offer
bigger opportunities to middle and lower class students,"
he said. Parikh has been a Glendale resident since
1969 and now resides in his third home since moving
to the city, which is just a mile away from the college.
"We've given to so many projects in India,"
Parikh said. My daughter especially said, 'we live
here, so we should give here.'"
Parikh's wife, Kumud, took accounting classes at
GCC, although his daughters have attended other universities.
"We look around and we thought giving to a university
will not ... make any big difference to them,"
Parikh said. "But if I give to the small community
college where I live and work and where I made money,
that would be beneficial to (the) working class and
youths."
According to School officials, in recognition of
this large donation, the structure will now be
named the Bhupesh Parikh Health Sciences and Technology
Building.The donation will help the college nearly
double the number of nurses it graduates every semester
- from the current 36 to about 66.
The three-story building is being constructed near
the Advanced Technology Building. The project provides
the first on-campus lab for the Health Sciences Division.
