The TCF Sacramento Chapter Has a Unique Problem
By Ras H. Siddiqui
The Citizens Foundation (TCF) Sacramento (https://www.facebook.com/TCFSacto/) Chapter has been active for over two years now during which it has financially supported the continuing operations of three schools in Pakistan through the generosity of our local community. During this time it has also changed the traditional method of fundraising which often gravitates towards large single events by holding much smaller but more frequent gatherings.
Using their friend’s network and the social media to get out their message, this grouping in California’s Capital City region has been a success mainly due to the efforts of Javed Iqbal plus Arshad and Nadira Alvi, with the support of a dedicated handful and the community as a whole including this writer. So when a fundraiser themed “Build a Smarter Pakistan. TCF Lunch for Education” was held at the Kabab N Chutney restaurant in the south side of the city on Sunday, September 16, 2018 it gained notice and was as usual small but high impact.
Success sometimes brings with it some unique problems and on rare occasions these are actually blessings. In his fine professional presentation at this lunch, Meer Nazir of TCF–Sacramento revealed that the chapter has received an anonymous donation of $100,000 (yes, one hundred thousand dollars) for the construction of a Primary School in a remote area of Jhang District in Punjab province, Pakistan. The land has already been donated but the total cost of constructing this school is estimated to be $175,000. The main goal now for the local TCF Chapter is to raise the $75,000 needed to complete the project. This writer does not know who the anonymous donor is but hats off to him or her for giving the Sacramento Pakistani community this unique challenge. Let us hope that we can live up to expectations and raise the rest of the funds. The school has plans to open in April 2019 so the timeline is kind of short.
As the TCF-Sacramento Facebook Page says, “The Citizens Foundation (TCF) is an amazing organization which strives to help children, who through no fault of their own, have ended up on the margins of society. By giving the gift of education, TCF empowers the young boys and girls with the tools and skills to be able to consistently better themselves. The overwhelming generosity of all TCF supporters is what makes it possible for the children of Pakistan to be able to not only dream, but also realize a better future for themselves.”
It is no secret that the literacy rate in Pakistan is abysmal. In South Asia only war-torn Afghanistan has a higher percentage of people who cannot read or write than Pakistan and it has a comparatively much smaller population. Millions of children in Pakistan today are either on the streets or laboring when they should be in school. The TCF model, with an all-female teaching staff and a goal to provide quality education to poor people, deserves our support. Let us help to educate Pakistan’s children and assist the TCF-Sacramento Chapter in its current quest to resolve this unique problem on its hands.
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