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| Chicago Sikhs Give Rousing Support to National Sikh Campaign |
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| Local residents in the Chicago metropolitan area join together to raise funds for major effort on Sikhism awareness in America. |
May 11, 2015: Chicago, IL – Sikhs from all the Chicago area participated in a fundraiser to support the media initiative of the National Sikh Campaign (NSC), where they raised over $30,000 – almost 20 lakhs in Indian rupees – with the help of the Sikh Religious Society of Palatine Gurdwara and Illinois Sikh Community center.
NSC representatives presented a detailed media plan to use countrywide television advertisements and online marketing tools in order to reach and teach Americans on a mass scale. The plan has been created through the counsel of AKPD Message and Media, a strategic communication firm founded by one of President Obama’s political strategists, David Axelrod. Under this initiative, specific researched, message-tested advertisements will be placed on national and local TV channels and websites.
This was the first major fundraising event of the National Sikh Campaign, specifically for this media campaign. The goal of the plan is to help familiarize Americans about the Sikh-American community and the Sikh identity. The visual message would focus on the turban and beard, two large sources of the misperception facing Sikhs abroad.
“We have found that a majority of Americans cannot identify what a Sikh is,” said Dr. Rajwant Singh, Co-founder of NSC. "This needs to change and we cannot continue to accept this, but it requires us to take action. If Guru Nanak were here, he would be the first one to adopt modern tools to communicate with the world. He used every possible means during his time, we must do the same.”
The advertisements will be based off the research report done by Hart Research Associates, led by one of Hillary Clinton’s top political strategists, Geoff Garin, that described the key messaging points Sikhs need to convey in order to connect with Americans and increase awareness.
Gurwin Singh Ahuja, Co-founder of NSC, presented the highlights of the report; depicting the effect Sikh values, i.e. gender equality, religious tolerance and service to others, had on changing Americans’ understanding.
"The most significant group which showed positive shift was among the Republicans, older Americans and Evangelicals, a section of the population which is usually not perceived to be closer to minority groups,” he said. "This data can be used to create specific strategies to create bonds with their fellow Americans, our community must take full advantage and launch this media effort.”
“The larger American public can relate to Sikhs…but it’s our duty to get ourselves out there,” added Jivan Singh Achreja, member of NSC. “We now have the missing link in our efforts to find a credible, verified message to relate our story within America.”
After beginning with Ardas (prayer) by Bhar Mohinder Singh, a Sikh community leader in the Chicago area and now serves at the Wheaton, IL Sikh Gurdwara, Kulwant Singh Hundal introduced NSC at the fundraiser. Among those present in the audience was the President of the Sikh Religious Society of Chicago Gurdwara, Jasbir Kaur Saluja. Many other prominent members of the community joined to express their endorsement of the campaign.
“The response of this community was beyond our expectation, we have been in need of an initiative like this for some time,” said Jasvir Kaur Singh, main organizer of the event. “Finally, Sikh youth will not have explain who they are to everyone they meet…Americans will ask them if they are Sikh.”
NSC was launched last March and has 15 National Charter members who gave initial funding to start it.
“We are touched by the number of Sikhs that came to learn about the campaign and join them as volunteers,” said Sarwan Singh, an event organizer. “The hunger for this kind of plan is very apparent, people have been wanting to create better awareness around the Sikh tradition and we will not take this campaign to nearby areas of Indiana and Wisconsin where there other large Sikh populations.”
About National Sikh Campaign
The National Sikh Campaign is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is helping to build the image of Sikhism in America and highlight the impact Sikh Americans have made in the United States. The aim of this campaign is to create an environment of mutual acceptance in which Sikhs don’t have to hide their articles of faith and lay the foundation for more Sikh Americans to become leaders in the United States.
Learn more here: www.sikhcampaign.org
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| Paramjit Kaur, Secretary of Illinois Sikh Community Center Gurdwara handing a check to Dr. Rajwant Singh and Sarwan Singh of National Sikh Campaign |
Contact:
National Sikh Campaign
Washington, DC
[email protected]