Washington, October 11, 2012 - Over $ 250,000 was raised to fund scholarships for needy students striving to acquire higher professional education in Punjab and neighboring Indian states. Six hundred guests packed the ballroom of the Sheraton Premiere in Vienna, Virginia, to express their support for Sikh Human Development Foundation (SHDF)’s mission to provide need-based scholarships for higher professional education in India. Well known television talk show host and producer Gurmeet Sodhi served as the emcee
While welcoming the audience at the sold out event, the Chairman of the Foundation, Amar Jit Singh Sodhi, said, “This elegant gathering of nearly 600 persons makes us proud and humble. Twelve years ago, we started with a dream of empowering our youth in Punjab and neighboring states. Thanks to you, we have awarded nearly 2,400 scholarships by now at a cost of nearly a million dollars. Thanks to you –nearly 800 of them have graduated. Most of them are working professionals in some 31 disciplines. Often, their starting salaries are up to ten times more than what their parents are making.”
He further went on to say that ‘these scholarship recipients in turn are changing the lives of their families by educating their siblings and helping their parents live their golden years with a smile on their faces”. “How many charities can carry the benefit of your dollar farther than this”, he asked.
Applauding SHDF at the gala, chief guest and philanthropist Dr. Harshivinderjit Singh Bains, an ophthalmologist from Austin, TX, said, “We as contributors to SHDF can extend a strong helping hand that not only pulls that individual out of poverty but potentially a couple of generations before and certainly those that follow. Unfortunately educating female members is often the last priority in a financially marginalized family. I am elated that this demographic is well represented among the SHDF scholarship recipients.” Dr. Bains shared how he had visited Punjab last year and had met with several scholarship recipients and listened, with tears in his eyes, their intense and often unsuccessful struggle to gain access to professional education.
Dr. Bains, along with Gurvendra Singh Suri and Dr. G.P Singh, two past Chief guests at SHDF events and major contributors, in a surprise move, pledged to donate $75,000 if the Foundation could raise an equivalent amount that evening. This gesture electrified the SHDF Team as well as the audience. Gajinder Singh Ahuja, Secretary General of SHDF and Dr. Rajwant Singh, Outreach Director of SHDF, made fervent appeal to the guests to meet the challenge by donating generously. The response from the guests was heart-warming and most encouraging. Within minutes the challenge had been met with donations and pledges, which far exceeded the needed amount. Over $150,000 was collected on the spot. In addition, participants enthusiastically committed to sponsor a large number of individual scholarships. Dr. Pavanjit Kaur Sawhney of Baltimore, Maryland, a major donor of SHDF, had also joined in appealing for funds.
Earlier, a movie with testimony from the students and their parents, explaining their dire need and the SHDF response in each case had been screened. It was an emotional experience for the guests. They felt directly connected with the beneficiaries of SHDF scholarships.
The students supported by SHDF are from very poor backgrounds. Many are orphans, fatherless or have terminally sick parents and some are children of farmers who committed suicide due to heavy debt. Most of the them are from families whose incomes are less than a dollar a day. Their parents work as drivers, bicycle repairers, small tailors, gurdwara sevadaars, milk deliverymen, agricultural laborers, and marginal farmers, among other menial jobs.
An unprecedented highlight of the evening, a move by a dozen girls, all around the age of ten, contributed to the outpouring of compassionate giving by the guests. Seeing their parents/grandparents selling tickets for the Gala event, these girls formed a group called Young Khalsa Girls (YKG). They approached their parents, relations, neighbors, acquaintances and wrote letters. Within a week they ended up presenting a sum of $5,000 for 10 scholarships at the event! The audience was so moved that another $12,500 was donated by the guests on the spot, making it a total of $17,500 – enough to give 35 scholarships!
Gurvendra Singh Suri, CEO of Texas based Optimal Solutions, a well-known entrepreneur, said, “The rousing support from the 600-strong group of donors at the fundraising dinner event is an unmistakable vote of confidence in the SHDF's scholarship program. We see in these donors a very welcome movement from apathy to empathy; they are increasingly convinced that SHDF provides the least expensive and the most reliable way of selecting and supporting the poverty-stricken but bright youth in Punjab and neighboring areas for higher education.” Inter-acting with the guests, he received a resounding “YES” to the four questions he asked on SHDF vision and mission, its accomplishments and its future program.
Gurvendra
Suri, a visionary entrepreneur, supporting SHDF
SHDF Secretary-General Gajinder Ahuja, said, “Several hundred more students will benefit from donations and commitments made today. These children will succeed beyond their wildest dreams. This is all possible due to the generous donors who have long term benefit of the community in mind. We are thrilled with the success of this event.” He reminded that the overhead cost of running this entire humanitarian operation is minimal and nearly 90 percent of the donations go to the target recipients.Dr. Rajwant Singh said, “This is the largest donation ever collected by the diaspora in the name of financially struggling students in Punjab. All the attendees and Washingtonian community ought to be proud of this significant contribution. This certainly will have far reaching benefits for generations to come.”
In the beginning of the program, emcee Gurmeet Sodhi requested and the guests observed a moment of silence in remembrance of the victims and those affected by the shootings at the Gurdwara in Wisconsin.
Special guests of honor who were honored at the gala were: Drs. Jogendra and Kirpal Kaur Bajaj of Baltimore, Drs. Ranvir Singh and Manjeet Kaur Achreja of North Carolina and a young entrepreneur Gunvir Singh Baveja from Virginia.
The opening act in the program was a rousing Gidha by Dhiyan Punjab Diyan, a national award winning group which combines ‘Boliyan’ (couplets sung in Punjabi) with this fast-paced dance form. The audience was also treated to a special performance by Sarbjit Cheema who sang Punjabi songs accompanied by a band.
A good number of volunteers contributed to the success of the gala including Reena Nagra, Ripi Kohli Chhabra, Reba Kohli Maharaj, Sunny Malhi, Harjot Goraya, Dimple Sandhu, Harpreet Kaur, Amardeep Singh, Minoo Nandra, Dasmeet Maharaj, Abinash Singh, Manpreet Singh Matharoo, Atam Parkash Singh and Bhavdeep Singh Bajajand Guransh Singh. Other members of Executive council of SHDF namely Mohinder Singh Mudahar, Veena Oberoi, Parvinder Singh Sodhi, and Jaspreet Ahuja led many aspects of the event planning to make it a grand success.