Advertisement
With so many American Red Cross volunteers devoting tremendous amounts of time and energy helping people recover from last month’s flooding, you might wonder what motivates them. For Red Cross board member and volunteer Bankim Dhanak, 59, of Onalaska, Wis., the answer is found in 1962 India.
Dhanak’s father-in-law, Dr. Vasant Vani, was instrumental in pioneering the Red Cross branch in his home state of Gujarat, India.
“He gave up all his material possessions,” Dhanak said, “opted for simplicity and adopted his whole life to the Red Cross and helping poor people.”
Vani was appointed India’s general secretary of state in 1962, and he donated the first pint of blood, his own, to the Red Cross branch he established. He actively promoted safe and clean voluntary blood donation throughout India.
But, it was the flood of 1963, in the city of Morbi, that inspired Vani the most. He created a Red Cross disaster preparedness center, advised the government on relief efforts to prevent the spreading of disease, and got food and supplies to the victims.
“He was one of my real heroes,” Dhanak said.
The other hero, Dhanak said, was his father, Govindlal Girdharilal Dhanak, who inspired him to pursue engineering.
Govindlal was an engineer and directed construction of the largest earthen dam in India in 1947. He also oversaw many irrigation projects in India, including the master plan of the Narmada Basin, which is the largest west flowing river system in India.
Those men taught
See Dahnek, A-3
Dhanak that he has an obligation to give back everything he has taken in life.
“When is the time to give back?” Dhanak asked. “This is the time to give back.”
He said he focuses his efforts locally because he considers this his home and he has a connection to the community.
“My job is here,” Dhanak said. “Here” on that particular day meant the Hokah, Minn., Red Crosse Service Center. He sat surrounded by boxes of supplies meant to provide support for residents of the waterlogged town. He stressed he was just there to learn the ropes like any other volunteers.
“He came because he wanted to learn, and I think he’s wonderful,” said Colleen Wiemerslage, Red Cross manager of the service center. “He wants to see what the Red Cross is doing and the clients need.”
Dhanak, a retired chemical engineer, has lived in the Coulee Region for almost 25 years with his wife, Kalpana, who is an anesthesiologist at Gundersen Lutheran Hospital. They have one daughter, Neesha, who is studying to become a doctor of osteopathy.
Dhanak’s resume, from his undergraduate work at Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda, India, to his former ownership of Midwest Fluid Balancing in La Crosse, seems at odds with the reserved and quiet man.
Cheryl Hancock, executive director of the Scenic Bluffs Chapter of the American Red Cross, said the Red Cross staff loves him.
She also said people might be misled by his gentle demeanor when they first meet him.
“When you come to know him there’s a much deeper man there,” Hancock said.
Ryan Stotts can be reached at (608) 791-8446 or ryan.stotts@lee.net.
