Fundraiser Testifies to Community’s Support for Imran
By Naushad Sarwar

L to R: Imran Khan, Dr Burki, Shafique Khan, Dr Razak H. Chaudhry, Ali Zaidi, Yasmin Zaidi and Haya Farooqui

Los Angeles, CA: Whether you are seriously running for a cause, volunteering yourself for an NGO, or simply striving to serve humanity, the society at large is eager to accord recognition to your efforts, and to make its own contribution as well. There could be more than one event to mark the gratitude of the masses in case of a person extraordinaire.

Such an event was arranged on May 20, 2005 at The Hilton – LAX. The elite of the community, who never let such an opportunity go by, turned up in large number to contribute to the fundraiser organized by the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Center. Incidentally, the center has celebrated the 10th anniversary of its successful operation.

The founder and CEO, Mr. Imran Khan, himself graced the fundraiser with his presence. He is truly an inspirational character. A picture of grace and poise, Imran called upon members of the community to be a part of the struggle to impart healing and health to patients of cancer. Vision, commitment, hard work, and above all, continued support by the community is what made the hospital a self-sufficient, high-tech, free treatment and research center, Imran said. A video highlighting the hospital’s working was also screened on the occasion.

Haya, Imran, Fazal, Yamin and Ali	Fazal , Haya, Iman Alam and members of Fuzon Band

“It takes only 15 cents to be treated at SKMH & RC regardless of social status and patients are pouring in even from Afghanistan and India,” Imran informed the gathering. “One-fifth of the medicines are imported. Free chemotherapy, free food, pharmacy accessibility, and free prescriptions are the iconic symbols of this world-know facility”, Imran stated. “How
handy this organization has been for the ailing humanity is what symbolizes us”, was a statement he was proud of.
To elaborate further on the performance of the hospital, Dr. Burki furnished impressive statistics to highlight the role of the Shaukat Khanum Hospital in providing treatment to cancer patients in Pakistan. During the presentation, the buoyant Dr. Burki gave a bird’s eye view of the facility, including its operational details, monthly expenses, and number of patients checking in daily. “Seventy percent patients are treated free, 30 % pay partially, leaving the rest of the expenses to be met through donations, funds and zakat”, he informed. “The facility is self-managed, is state of the art - all computerized and installed with self-designed software system - and with a cutting edge research center copied all over the world as a role model”, Dr. Burki proudly claimed.

A great performance

Visibly sharing Imran’ s vision and support to his cause at the fundraiser were a number of enterprising Pakistani-American individuals, including Mr. Shafiq Khan, Mr. Ali Zaidi, Mrs. Yasmin Zaidi, Mr. Fazal Farooqui, Mrs. Yahya Farooqui, and Dr. Razzak Chawdhry. A full capacity hall of 700 plus was packed to capacity testifying to the community’s support to Imran’s efforts.
Musical heartthrobs of Pakistan, Fuzon Band, spiced up the evening with songs the audience had waited to hear live for long.

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