newsletter

Dear Friend,

Sat Sri Akal. Very warm Vaisakhi greetings to you and your family.  May Guru Ji’s blessings be on you all throughout the year. I would like to begin by expressing my and the SHDF Board’s deep gratitude to you for your invaluable support.  It has allowed SHDF to provide an increasing number of scholarships for higher education to bright students in Punjab and neighboring states, transforming lives struggling with severe economic hardship to ones filled with skills, opportunity and hope.

In this Newsletter, I would like to share with you a number of recent developments that would be of interest.

• For the 2022-23 academic year, SHDF has granted a record 1,460 scholarships. Thus, we have met and exceeded our goal of providing 1400 scholarships.  This is a significant increase from the 1,256 scholarships extended the previous year, and has further enhanced our upward trajectory. SHDF has now provided 11,025 scholarships since its inception in 20o1. With the multiplier effect of these scholarships, the number of lives impacted and transformed is enormous. You will be also pleased to know that 75 percent of the scholarship recipients this year are female, and 65 percent are from rural areas. The dire need is evident from the fact that two-thirds of the recipients had an annual family income of less than $100 per month.

• We have also held a Workshop for enhancing “soft-skills” including job interviewing techniques that was attended by several hundred scholarship recipients.  Numerous warm testimonials we received help us gauge the impact of these workshops.

• The number of SHDF-Nishkam centers has now expanded to ten, with the opening of the newest center in Karnal, Haryana in December 2022.  Each additional center, run by volunteers who are experts, widens the geographical reach in awareness among students, many in remote, underserved villages that help and hope is available to them. More centers where applications can be submitted, and written exams and interviews of applicants are conducted, reduces the burden of travel costs for students, who already have meagre means. Availability of guidance for successful applicants make the centers a valuable source of continuing support.

• We are delighted to announce that after tireless efforts by one of our key supporters, Sardar Darshan Singh ji of the Greater Toronto Area, and the SHDF Board, SHDF Canada has been established after receiving formal approval from the Canada Revenue Agency to operate as a Registered Charity. It will be headquartered in the Toronto area. With this development, the number of SHDF scholarships is expected to grow significantly. We are setting up the organization and are looking for volunteers who can help. Canadian supporters, who would like to donate, and/or volunteer in any capacity, can please get in touch at [email protected].

• SHDF board member Dr. Gurpal Singh Bhuller recently visited Punjab, New Delhi and Chandigarh. He met several students and their families, who described how transformative the scholarships had been for them and expressed deep gratitude to all donors for caring about them from thousands of miles away. These students as well as local educators, volunteers and Nishkam officials emphasized that there is a tremendous need for many more scholarships in their communities.

• We have significantly enhanced and updated our website. We have added several new features, including SHDF Student Association, SHDF Alumni Association, success stories and more. Please visit  www.shdf.org to learn about the impact your donations are making.

We have set a goal of at least 1500 scholarships for the 2023-24 academic year. To accomplish this, we need to raise $825,000 this year. We humbly request you to donate generously and to enlist support for SHDF from your extended family and friends. It is your generosity that will help young women and men, with great ability but meager means realize their dream of higher education, and transform their lives.

With warm regards and immense gratitude,

Manmohan Singh Kumar, Ph. D. (Cantab)
Chairman, SHDF

Give the gift of education!
Lives of many students in Punjab will be helped by your kind donation!

DONATE

Your donation is invaluable at this extraordinary time. Please contribute by clicking here or mail your check in favor of SHDF to:
10504 Rivers Bend Lane,
Potomac,
MD 20854.
We also count on you to spread the word in your circle of friends.

Dear Friend,

Sat Sri Akal. I hope this finds you and your family in Chardi Kala.
It is with deep gratitude for your continued support that I share five important updates about our work at SHDF.
 

Final Count of 2022 Scholarships

We have completed the process of awarding scholarships for the 2022 academic year. Thanks to your enormous generosity, 1,256 students have been granted SHDF Scholarships. The majority of these students are women from rural areas. As in previous years, the scholarships were awarded to students in North India, predominantly from Punjab, but also from neighboring states including Delhi, Haryana, and UP. The recipients are pursuing a wide range of disciplines including technology, computer science, medicine, nursing, education, agriculture, biotechnology, law, and business studies.
 

Scholarships for 2023

We have received 2,657 applications by our August 31 deadline for scholarships to be granted in 2023. It is especially notable that applications from rural areas, where opportunities are severely limited, have swelled. We hope to respond to this surging need by increasing the number of scholarships to around 1400.Your contribution is crucial for achieving this enhanced goal, and we appeal to your generosity for its life-changing impact.
 

Pilot Initiative – USA Scholarships

At the request of several donors, SHDF has initiated a small pilot USA Scholarships initiative for 2022-23 to support youth from our community enrolled in a university, community college or vocational training institution in USA. SHDF seeks to help motivated youth from economically disadvantaged families with scholarships of up to $3000 per year (up to $5,000 in exceptional circumstances). For the small pilot, focusing primarily on the DC area. applications were invited; and we have recently made three awards to deserving candidates with funds raised from donors specifically for this initiative.
 

Appointment of Executive Director

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Harsharan G. Singh of Maryland as our SHDF Executive Director. She has been closely associated with SHDF for several years, both as a donor and as a very active volunteer—she has also been a Master of Ceremonies for our annual fundraising gala events. She is highly experienced in non-profit organizations and management, effective communication, and youth leadership initiatives. She has been an advocate on behalf of Sikh students for inclusivity in school curricula in the US, and has been successful in obtaining grants and charitable donations, building dedicated volunteer teams, and public speaking. We are confident that she will excel in this role and will contribute significantly to SHDF’s continued growth.
 

Annual Fundraising Event – (Online)  

The Annual SHDF Fundraiser will be held in early November 2022.  In light of the great success of last year’s virtual fundraiser, we will gather online this year as well. We hope this will enable supporters from far and wide to join us virtually as we endeavor to fulfill the dreams of our deserving applicants to lead lives of dignity, gainful employment, and opportunity. We will share further details soon.
With Guru Ji’s blessings, and your invaluable Sewa, let us together reach for new heights in transforming lives through higher education.

Manmohan Singh Kumar, Ph. D. (Cantab)
Chairman, SHDF

Dear Friend,
 
Sat Sri Akal. Hope you and your family are all well.
 
As we approach year-end, I thought it might be helpful to share with you a summary of the achievements of SHDF this year, and our plans for the coming year.

I would first like to express my and the SHDF Board’s immense gratitude for your invaluable support throughout the year. Despite the many challenges, your Sewa has allowed SHDF to fulfill its mandate to provide scholarships to the neediest and most vulnerable students in Punjab and neighboring areas.
 
Your support has made possible the following achievements this year:

• • Earlier in the year, we provided a total of 1,256 scholarships (977 scholarships previous year), with 70% of the students having parental income of less than $100 a month; over three-quarters of the recipients have been females; and nearly two-thirds are from rural areas.
  • Since its inception in 2001, SHDF has granted over 9,000 scholarships. Success stories of the gainfully employed are to be found in a wide variety of disciplines – engineering, computer programming, law, teaching, finance, accounting, agriculture, nursing and medicine more generally.
  • We have conducted multiple workshops, attended by several hundred scholarship recipients to impart training in soft-skills development.
  • We have been expanding our services in India, and working closely in conjunction with our partner Nishkam Sikh Welfare Council, Delhi, and now have ten centers—eight in Punjab, one in Delhi and one in Karnal, Haryana.
  • We have started a small, pilot initiative for USA Scholarships, aimed at needy but motivated students in USA. 
  • We have continued to broaden our base of donors, with significant support coming from California in particular, with some exceptionally generous donations. We also appreciate the continued support from the Dasvandh Network. 
  • We had a very successful online fundraiser in November, where we received overwhelming support from our donors.
  • We have made significant progress in registering SHDF in Canada–thanks to exemplary dedication by one of our strongest supporters.
  • We have now on board a highly experienced Executive Director –Ms. Harsharan Kaur– to support us in our activities.

With regard to our plans for 2023, I would highlight the following: 

• • For 2023, we have received nearly 2600 applications and are expecting to provide over 1400 scholarships. This would mean that since its inception, SHDF, with your Sewa, would have provided over ten thousand scholarships.
  • We plan to expand the number and range of skills-workshops and other activities that would help SHDF Scholarship recipients in terms of jobs. In particular, we plan to institute activities to enhance leadership skills.  
  • As part of our continuous efforts to enhance services, we will soon be initiating online the SHDF Scholarship Alumni Network for mentorship, partnership and giving back.
  • We hope to expand further the pilot USA scholarship initiative.
  • We plan to work towards further expanding our support base in California, New York, Chicago and other major cities in the US.
  • We hope to finalize SHDF registration in Canada; we also plan to explore registration in the UK, Australia and Singapore. 
  • We are planning to explore options for creating an Endowment Fund to place SHDF finances on long-term sustainable footing.

Our work is possible only because of your immense support, which has provided the gift of higher education and a life of dignity to a large number of disadvantaged but motivated students. There are still many, many more who need your help.  As you make your year-end charitable contributions, we urge you to please consider giving the gift that keeps on giving – the gift of education via SHDF scholarship. 
 
We are deeply grateful for your invaluable Sewa which is transforming lives of tens of thousands of young women and men and their families.

May Guru Ji’s blessings be with you and your family throughout the new year.

With warm regards,

Manmohan Singh Kumar, Ph. D. (Cantab)
Chairman, SHDF

Give the gift of education!
Lives of many students in Punjab will be helped by your kind donation!

DONATE

Your donation is invaluable at this extraordinary time. Please contribute by clicking here or mail your check in favor of SHDF to:
10504 Rivers Bend Lane,
Potomac,
MD 20854.
We also count on you to spread the word in your circle of friends.