Sacramento Chapter of The Citizens Foundation Holds Fundraiser
By Ras H. Siddiqui

The Citizens Foundation-USA is a growing organization which has close to fifty chapters here in America, all involved in helping to educate children in Pakistan. It is rightly said that there is always room for improvement in education, but in the case of Pakistan, that room is currently the size of the courtyard of Lahore’s Badshahi Mosque! With around twenty-five million kids in the country, a population that is supposed to lead it into the future does not go to school at all, it is the second largest such population in the world. To attack this problem America-based Non-Profit headquartered in Houston, TCF-USA,  with the help of its various chapters is partnering with The Citizens Foundation in Pakistan, to make a significant impact on this large and serious education deficit.

The TCF Greater Sacramento Chapter has been in existence since the year 2015 and it has been continually active since then. As posted “The Chapter started off with supporting operations of three TCF schools. Over the course of seven years, it has grown its network of supporters and donors. Today, the Chapter supports four TCF schools across Pakistan and in 2019, with the help of a generous donor it moved a step ahead and built its first school, the TCF Rahma Campus, in Jhang.”  

The number of students that this chapter supports today is close to one thousand. To meet their needs, financial resources are necessary, and for that reason TCF locally holds at least one large annual fundraiser. This time once again the event was held at the SALAM Community Center on Saturday, August 10, 2024. And it was good to see that even though people arrived late, the hall had filled up by the time the proceedings started. Kudos to the organizers for the décor choices here as well as the green and white theme was spot on.

The program began with TCF Sacramento Chapter lead Arshad Alvi inviting event emcee Usman Khalid to the stage to start the formalities.

He first commended Arshad Alvi (not to forget Mrs Nadira Alvi) for the wonderful job that they had been doing for the great TCF cause for many years now. He next invited Ibrahim Qureshi, a student at the Folsom High School for a Qur’an recitation, which was presented along with its  English translation. 

Usman returned and shared his own experience in Pakistan where he from the GIK Institute located in a remote area and shared how the Institute partnered with TCF to set up a school in KPK. He said that we often talk about the problems of Pakistan in this country, but we recognize that the root cause of the problems is lack of education, a problem that TCF is trying to address. He next invited the first speaker, Zaid Akhtar, also a Folsom resident, currently serving as a Board of Trustee for the MCF (Muslim Community of Folsom) and a Volunteer Team Member of TCF-USA’s Sacramento Chapter.

Zaid in his short speech thanked everyone for coming and added that it was nice to see the support shown here for TCF once again this year. He said that it is a worthy charity that deserves our support. He added that there are millions of children out of school in Pakistan which is frankly unacceptable. There is nothing more fundamental to the success of a country than education. We can be a part of the solution, said Zaid. These are our children, not some random kids suffering in Pakistan.

The next speaker, Colorado native Eric Temple, Manager, Grants and New Initiatives at The Citizens Foundation-USA, brought his own unique perspective to the event. His presentation was more detailed and accompanied by several slides. He started by  answering the most commonly asked question (translated from Urdu) What is a Gora (white person) doing here? He said that Pakistan and not Wall Street fit into what he wanted to do with his life. So, he gravitated to the best cause and place that needed him most, which was TCF.

Eric said that TCF not only provides education, but quality education. And an organization that is educating more than 300,000 kids every single day with a female faculty and one which promotes the education of girls in Pakistan is indeed noteworthy. TCF is the largest private employer of women in the country, informed Eric. He also highlighted some other TCF programs including adult literacy (Aagahi). He added that TCF is striving to impact the lives of 2 million through education in Pakistan by the year 2030, as the scale of its social canvas is large. It was a very professional presentation by Temple.  

The last presentation before the fundraising was amazing. This was by our local community children (all girls) who recited Allama Iqbal’s “Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua” (A prayer comes to my lips). These kids dressed in their Pakistani clothes and carrying Pakistani flags almost made the event an early August 14 th Pakistan Independence Day celebration. It was very inspiring and kudos to Arsalan Zafar and Madeeha Latif for organizing this beautiful segment.

The event closed with dinner after a successful fundraising effort conducted primarily by Deya ElGhassein, Civil Engineer, and Ex-Chairman of the Board of MCF and a Volunteer Team Member of TCF- USA’s Sacramento Chapter. We thank all the donors for their generosity here and all the hard-working volunteers who made this fine evening possible.

(Independence Day greetings to our readers)