WASHINGTON, Oct 23 (APP): Over $ 3 million were collected at a fundraiser held by the Washington, DC, chapter of The Citizen Foundation (TCF), with a pledge to build seven new schools in Pakistan in its continuing effort to provide quality education to the country’s underprivileged children.
Nearly 700 leading businessmen, professionals, entrepreneurs and community leaders of Pakistani descent attended the annual gala event, at which Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US, Masood Khan, was the guest of honour.
The Pakistan-based Citizen Foundation (TCF) is an internationally acclaimed non-profit organization providing formal education to the underprivileged. TCF-USA is a US non-profit recognized as a public charity.
At Sunday’s annual ceremony, conducted by noted Pakistani-American entrepreneur Hasnain Aslam, the community members of TCF-USA contributed a total of $3,510,400 to support the new projects in Pakistan.
In his remarks, Ambassador Masood Khan thanked TCF-USA for the “precious gift”, saying, “You have unlocked opportunities which were not available to the underprivileged children before.”
“You have become a respected brand in Pakistan and abroad,” he told TCF-USA members.
Masood Khan also lauded the services of Ms. Shimmi Kidwai, the President of TCF, who has been honoured with Tamgha-e-Khidmat, for her decades-long meritorious social and humanitarian services.
In this regard, the Pakistani envoy noted that since its inception in 1995, TCP has built 1900 schools for nearly 300, 000 children. On its part, the DC chapter established 43 schools across the under-developed areas of Pakistan, providing over 5,000 children the chance to shape a successful and promising future.
He called on the community members to keep faith in Pakistan, maintain unity in their ranks, and continue to work towards strengthening Pak-US relations.
“Together we will succeed,” Masood Khan declared.
Pakistan, he said, had made impressive strides in the field of education, but “we still have a long way to go to educate every child and ensure quality education.”
“These are our national goals as well as UN-designated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” he said.
“To achieve these goals and prepare our children for the future, we need more schools, more funding, infrastructure, qualified teachers, improved gender equity, refurbished curricula and modern educational technologies.
“We are moving toward that path,” he added.