Chaitanya & Old Town, July 18, 2019: The Shimoga Multipurpose Social Service Society observed the death anniversary of Save A Family Plan founder, Msgr Augustine Kandathil on 18 July 2019 at Chaitanya, Shimoga and Old Town, Bhadravathi. Morning at 9.30 office staff along with a few beneficiaries spent some time in prayer thanking the Lord for the person of Msgr Augustine Kandathil and prayed for the repose of his soul. Rev. Fr Clifford Roshan Pinto, the Director of SMSSS led the prayer at Chaitanya. At 12.30 pm the beneficiaries of Bhadravathi area gathered at Old Town, Bhadravathi and offered prayers. Rev. Fr Stany D'Souza, the Parish Priest of Our Lady of Vailankanni Church, Old Town officiated the prayer service at Old Town. Mr Bijai, the area Coordinator of SAFP from Kerala was present for the prayer service. He is on a monitoring visit to SMSSS. Sr Premalatha UFS, the SAFP coordinator and Mrs Pramila and Mrs Shubha the SAFP animators organised the prayer service.
Save A Family Plan is a Canadian-based international non-governmental organization founded by Msgr Augustine Kandathil in 1965. Save A Family Plan was born out of the inspiration of a man with incredible love for the poor, a man named Msgr Augustine Kandathil, but better known as Father Gus. Father Gus was born in Kerala, South India and ordained a priest in 1947. He was an incredibly intelligent man and eventually earned his PhD in Chemistry while studying at Notre Dame University in Indiana as a Fulbright Scholar. He went on to teach Chemistry at St Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, in 1962.
In 1964, during the International Eucharistic Congress in Bombay, Father Gus was inspired by the words of Pope Paul VI as he asked the world to join him in a non-violent battle against hunger and poverty. Father Gus started in his home state of Kerala by matching five Indian families with five families in Canada to provide financial support and greater cultural understanding. From this very small beginning, Save A Family Plan has grown into an organization that reaches out to tens of thousands of impoverished families across India every year. Father Gus passed away in India on 18 July 2001.
