Indian-American philanthropist who donated $5.5 million to Texas hospitals says she’s uncomfortable with publicity: ‘We don’t advertise’
Sunita Agarwal and her husband Brij Agarwal don’t like advertising for their charities. The Indian-American couple’s $5.5 million donation to the St. Luke’s Foundation of Texas thrust them into the spotlight, and Sunita Agarwal said they were uncomfortable with the public attention. They have made many such donations in the past, but they believe the point of philanthropy is not to promote but to create a legacy of giving. ““My husband and I have made many donations but we were reluctant to talk about or publicize them,” Sunita told New India Abroad. “This time, St. Luke’s published the details on their website and that’s how everyone knew.”“For my husband and I, education and health are the most important focus areas of our philanthropic work. But we don’t even like discussing the details with our children,” she said.Brij Agarwal is an Indian-American entrepreneur from Texas and the CEO and President of VKC Group. VKC Group is a restaurant management and franchising company that operates dozens of restaurants in the greater Houston area.They pledged $5.5 million to Sugar Land Hospital at a time when Indians were being hated in Texas for the so-called “Texas Takeover” by Indians. As many American influencers take to the streets of Houston to interview H-1B visa holders, Indians, some social media users question why these hate mongers are turning a blind eye to what people of Indian origin like Agarwals have done for Texas.
Who is Brij Agarwal?
Brij Agarwal was born in India and came to Houston in 1979 at the age of 17. He began his engineering career in 1988 studying mechanical engineering at the University of Houston. He is a principal engineer at MW Kellogg and CEO of ABM Industries. In 1988, he founded the VKC Group with just one store. While expanding his business, he also focused on philanthropy. He established a presidential endowment fund at the Cullen College of Engineering for students at his alma mater, the University of Houston, which awards numerous scholarships.In 2022, they donated $1 million to the University of Houston’s Sugar Land campus to support manufacturing education and research facilities. In their honor, the university was named after the Brigitte and Sunita Agrawal Auditorium.
