[The Thaakat Insider]

May 2012

Volume 1, Issue 6

The campaign for the Kachra

Kundi project has been

extremely successful thus far,

gaining popularity through

social media networks and

spreading like wildfire

through spoken word.

If you’ve checked out the

campaign’s Facebook page,

you might have noticed that

the campaign has raised over

50% of the $16,400 goal only a

month after launch date!

While 20% of the funds raised

have come from online

donations, via the Crowdrise

page, a whopping 80% have

been donated by Thaakat

Chapters and individuals.

One such chapter was the

University of Illinois chapter,

which raised $1,550 for the

project through a BBQ!

Hajera Azam, founder of the

Illini Thaakat Chapter, said

“Our mission was to make

others feel what we feel, and

place full faith in our dream.”

Another successful

fundraising effort was

made by Omar Salim,

Director of Community

Development on Thaakat’s

National Board.

Omar pledged to shave his

head in front of a live

audience via livestream if he

was able to raise $1,000 in 10

days! In this short amount of

time, Omar exceeded his goal

and raised ~$1200 for the

project! After the live

broadcast, Omar commented

“Don’t let anyone ever tell

you your idea won’t work!

Believe in yourself and the

rest works out on its own.”

As simple of an effort it was,

it left everyone inspired.

That’s not even the start of it.

Sameeha Qureshi, a Thaakat

member and teacher at the

Islamic Foundation School,

talked to her 2nd grade class

about the project and the

campaign.

Upon hearing about the

project, these kids were

determined to help in their

own way. The group made

lunches and sold them for $5

#lethedreambe’ Campaign Updates

Inside this issue:

Check out these

websites:

Stay up-to-date with Thaakat on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ Thaakat.Foundation

Thaakat on Tumblr: www.thaakat.tumblr.com

Thaakat on Twitter: www.twitter.com/thaakat

Thaakat’s current global projects on Crowdrise: www.crowdrise.com/ thaakatfoundation

Follow #lethedreambe’ www.facebook.com/ #lethedreambe

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#lethedreambe’

Updates

1

Nonprofit

Spotlight: NYAWC

2

Illini Thaakat

Dares to Dream

2

Caryn’s Fight 3

Chapter

Highlight

3

Thaakat

Chapters:

What’s New

4

Five Facts 4

each to their school members

and raised $425 for the

campaign!

Check out the short video

message put together by the

class here:

http://www.youtube.com/wa

tch?v=gt76EZzhfww

There are numerous stories

of the efforts individuals

have taken to help fulfill the

dreams of those waiting

anxiously for this school site

to open in Kachra Kundi.

In addition to getting water

supply for the school facility

(costs $5,600), the money

raised so far will aid in

setting up just about four full

classrooms (costs $1,200

each).

A HUGE thank you to

Wahaj Tariq, Faraz

Hamedani and Aleena Zaidi

for their generous donations!

We still have a ways to go

but I’m confident that we

will reach our goal in no

time with your support!

Spring into Thaakat

When I first moved to New

Jersey, I scoped out a few

places I thought it would be

important to form a

relationship with and here is

where I came across the New

York Asian Women’s Center

(NYAWC) . I wanted some

insight into how we could

help the center and these

women and children who

were struggling. After a few

conversations and our

promise to remain loyal to

our efforts, they welcomed

us with open arms and are

always thrilled when we

return. They even offered us

the partnership of the

Nonprofit Spotlight: New York Asian Women’s Center

upkeep of their "Peace

Garden" which we visit to

help re-plant each year.

The center houses women

and children and offers

We all sat around a long

conference table and put the

laptop at the end, turned

up the volume, and waited

for the #lethedreambe’

campaign video to air.

When it did, we all watched

in silence until the very end.

I think that was the moment

when it hit all of us. There

are people literally living in a

wasteland, and finally we

knew how serious that was.

Education is an immense

power that we all take for

granted. But when we

realized that hundreds of

children are living

completely destitute of

education in Kachra Kundi,

we grasped how precious it

really was. Living in our

society, we knew that we had

the ability to help.

We decided to have a benefit

barbeque on our campus to

raise funds for the project.

After pleading our case to

Illini Thaakat Dares to Dream

several sponsors, the entire

the cost of the barbeque was

covered, we went out in our

community and did our part.

The key was to educate

ourselves and then reach out

to others. After doing more

research, we were all well

versed on the exact details of

the Dreams for Kachra Kundi

project. We were not trying

to sell 10 dollar tickets to an

“all you can eat barbecue”;

because in our minds, that

was just a perk. We were

selling tickets to allow others

to join us to help build a

sanitary education facility for

the children of Kachra

Kundi.

Our mission was to

make others feel

what we feel, and

place full faith in

our dream. And

with that, the

donations started

pouring in. People

generously

donated money, food, and time

to our event, and made it more

successful than we ever

imagined.

With all this help, we were able

to raise $1,550 for Kachra Kundi.

We are so

grateful for every

single dollar we

raised. We know that

this money is the first

step to giving a child

the gift of hope and

restoring their faith in

the future. We will

continue to stand up

for this cause and do

our best to let the dream be.

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By: Hajera Azam, Founder, Illini Thaakat

By: Uzma Bawany-Ali, Founder, Thaakat Foundation

“We were not

trying to sell 10

dollar tickets to an

“all you can eat

barbecue”; because

in our minds, that

was just a perk.”

– Hajera Azam

language.

Seeing the visible problem of

domestic violence, not only

here but abroad in our

countries, we've been

working behind the scenes

on an initiative called "Break

the Silence". This is an

awareness campaign, we

hope to launch to bring these

terrible numbers to life and

let people know not to be

afraid to talk about it what is

going on in our communities.

We are responsible for

stopping this.

Learn more about NYAWC

services and support to help

them get back up on their

feet. In recent years, the

center has shared they have

seen a sharp increase in the

population of South Asian

women, at some times, 80%

or more of the women there

being of South Asian decent.

These increasing numbers

tell a terrible story.

In times we've visited, many

of the Urdu and Hindi

speaking women have been

in tears as we depart,

sharing that it is the first

time in months they have

been able to communicate

with outsiders in their own

Co-founder of Thaakat

Atlanta, Caryn Dreibelbis

slipped on her red boxing

gloves and entered the ring

at Atlanta Coporate’s Fight

Night on Friday, April 19th.

Her mission?

To raise money for Thaakat

Foundation, the charity of

her choice.

Caryn faced off against

Renea Neal who was fighting

for Black Kids Can Learn, in

Caryn’s Fight for Thaakat

the fifth fight of the night.

While Caryn did not win her

match, her efforts raised a

good chunk of change for

Thaakat and created more

awareness about the group

on campus.

Thaakat Atlanta even

received a Dean’s Award for

their incredible efforts!

Congratulations on

a job well done Caryn!

Learn more about

Caryn and the

Atlanta Corporate

Fight Night here

and here.

This chapter was founded

in 2010, as the first

Thaakat chapters to

originate on a college

campus. With a large

member base, Rutgers

New Brunswick is a

chapter that doesn’t

hesitate to give its all to a

new project or cause.

From fundraising with

talent shows to

volunteering at soup

kitchens and elderly

centers, RU definitely

brings the thaakat around

in numbers!

Chapter Highlight: Rutgers New Brunswick Thaakat

I asked founder of the

chapter, Murad Ali, what

inspired him to create a

Thaakat chapter and here

is what he had to say – “I

saw this as an opportunity

to escalate Thaakat to the

next level… raise

awareness about the

wonderful things these

guys are doing. Never in a

million years did I think

that the small step I was

taking with my friends

would lead the way for

the future of the

organization.”

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By: Hira T. Khan, Keeper of the Blog, Thaakat Foundation

Photo credit: Ayesha Lodhia

and for whatever reason,

makes these facts more

real to me.

Here are some facts I

learned, or re-learned,

recently:

1. The literacy rate of

youth (ages 15-24) in

South Asia is 79%,

compared to 89% in the

world.1

2. 783 million people

around the world do not

have access to safe

drinking water.2

Does anyone else out

there pop open a Snapple

bottle and read the

Snapple “Real Fact”

before taking your first

sip? I’ve always been

curious about them and

after all, how else would I

know that a jackrabbit

can travel more than 12 ft

in one hop (#218)?

Numbers and statistics

put these facts in a place

where I can fully

understand their impact

3. 70.9% of the population

in South Asia in ‘08 was

living on less than $2 per

day.3

4. Of the 2.2 billion

children in the world, 1

billion are in poverty and

121 million are out of

education.4

5. Life expectancy at birth

in South Asia is 65 years,

compared to 70 years in

the world. 5

These are some scary

numbers. There are

numerous projects

Thaakat is involved in that

aim to helping those in

Illini Thaakat: Held a

BBQ fundraiser and

raised $1,150 for

#lethedreambe campaign.

Thaakat Rutgers New

Brunswick: Held an end

of semester Movie Night

for their members.

Northwestern University

Thaakat: Partnered to

host a bone marrow

drive “Marrow for

Marrow”.

Thaakat TCNJ: Held a

Thaakat Atlanta:

Registered nearly 60

people during “Swag the

Swab” on April 2nd. VP

Caryn Marie fought in a

boxing tournament on

April 19th. They also

received a Dean’s Award

from their University.

Congrats Thaakateers!

Thaakat Bradley:

Registered 60 people

during a Bone Marrow

Drive earlier this

semester and held a

Multi-Sport Tournament

in April.

SWAB for HOPE bone

marrow drive, volunteered

at a Soup Kitchen and

fundraised all in April!

To all our other chapters:

Thaakat Baruch, Thaakat

Florida, Thaakat Houston,

Thaakat Loyola, Thaakat

Rutgers Newark, Thaakat UIC

THANK YOU for a

superb school year!

Thaakat has been

blessed to have

chapters that are so

dedicated to the cause!

What’s New With Thaakat Around the Nation

4

Five Facts: Did You Know? By: Sehrish Khan, Thaakat Insider, Thaakat Foundation

If you haven’t gotten

involved yet, why wait?

Get involved today!

Visit Thaakat Foundation’s

blog for all the latest:

thaakat.wordpress.com

Congratulations to

the graduating class

of 2012! May you

continue to spread

“thaakat” wherever

you go!