SHDF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Dear Friend,

SatSriAkal. Hope you and your family are well.

As we approach year-end, I wanted to share with you some important developments and our near-term goals. I would first like to express our deep gratitude for your continued invaluable Seva. This has been critical for fulfilling SHDF’s mission — empowering the neediest but highly motivated and talented students across Punjab and neighboring areas to achieve their dreams through higher education, mentorship, and hope.

The past year was one of the most impactful in SHDF’s history. We awarded 1,624 college scholarships (bringing our total to over 13,000 since inception). Over 70% of our students come from families earning less than $100 per month; nearly three- quarters are young women; two-thirds are from rural areas. Each scholarship represents a life-changing opportunity.

This year, partnering with the Sikh Educational Society (SES) of Chandigarh and Faridkot is enabling SHDF to reach even more deserving and capable students. As noted earlier, SES is a premier educational organization managing a large number of top colleges including Dasmesh Dental College, Dasmesh Institutes of Nursing and Pharmacy, and Sri Guru Gobind Singh College for Women. It also interacts closely with premier universities including Guru Nanak Dev University, Punjabi University and Punjab University with several hundred affiliated colleges. Moreover, SHDF and SES have established ten regional Centers (Amritsar Sahib, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Mastuana Sahib, Faridkot, Banga, Hoshiarpur, Ambala, and New Delhi) — ensuring accessibility for students across the region.

We have also introduced a fully online scholarship application system. This has made applications more accessible for students in both rural and urban areas, streamlined the review process, and enhanced transparency. This year, we are thrilled to share with you that we have received over 3100 eligible applications —a record!

Based on need and merit, we would like over the next few weeks to equal or exceed the number of college scholarships awarded last year. In addition, we are expanding initiatives to help students prepare for meaningful careers through various initiatives including soft-skills workshops, and industry partnerships.

To meet our goal of providing these scholarships, we need to raise $300,000 between now and year-end. Your donation is a priceless gift that will help us meet this goal. As you undertake your charitable contributions over the next few days, please consider continuing your strong and generous support for education — an investment that transforms lives of tens of thousands of young women and men, their families, and their communities, and for generations to come.

With deepest gratitude for your compassion and invaluable Seva,

Warmest regards,
Manmohan Singh Kumar, Ph.D. (Cambridge)
Chairman, SHDF

                                    Lives of tens of thousands of students and their families will be transformed by your kind donation!