Education empowers the mind and uplifts the soul: Islam.
WASHINGTON, DC: The Washington Aligarh Alumni Association organized a successful fundraiser for educational activities on June 27 at James Blake High School in Silver Spring, Maryland.
“Education is the gift that keeps on giving. Education empowers the mind and uplifts the soul. It is a powerful equalizer opening door to all to lift themselves out of poverty. Education is the best investment we can make to build next generations of leaders and entrepreneurs and innovators and problem solvers,” said Frank Islam during his keynote address.
Islam, an Aligarian, added that education also provides avenues for participation in 21st century workforce and careers, the competencies to compete in a globally economy, and the capacity to contribute to lifting fellow Muslims out of poverty and deprivation.
He appealed to fellow Aligarians saying, “Let us together change the face of India. One life, one family, one village at a time,” Islam and his wife have committed $2 million to support the building of the Frank and Debbie Islam School of Management at Aligarh Muslim University, which will be dedicated in October of this year.
The evening began with the recitation of a Qur’anic Sura and its translation by teenagers Hiba Usmani and Aizah Usmani, respectively. Welcoming the audience, Madame President Farzana Farooqi thanked them for their attendance and briefly outlined the significance of the program that supports education of underprivileged children.
During the function, the chairman of the fundraising committee, Dr. Aftab Ansari, updated the audience on the status of the Association’s highly successful scholarship and Feeder programs. He stated that in the year 2014, the AAA provided 248 scholarships and free tuition and coaching facilities at over 800 school-level children at different centers in India. Also, reassuring was the information that the AAA scholarship endowment funds had grown steadily over the years and scholarships are funded through the income generated by investment of the endowment fund.
Hamad Usmani, a freshman in college, served as the master of ceremonies, while the Iftar food and dinner were donated by a member who wished to remain anonymous.
Aside from AAA participants and supporters, a large number of members of different literary, educational, and cultural organizations were present, including representatives from the University of Karachi Alumni Association, Hyderabad Association Washington, Islamic Society of Frederick, Global Organization of People of Indian Origin, and the Montgomery County Muslim Council.