A Letter to Our Donors from the New SHDF Chairman

Dr. Manmohan Singh Kumar will now head the Board of Directors for SHDF as the new Chairman. He has served on the Board since 2014, most recently serving as the Director of the new initiatives and was a strong supporter of SHDF for many years prior to that. He has been instrumental in helping push the foundation forward during his tenure and brings a strong passion for working with the community.

Pinning hope in this letter, Dr. Kumar appealed to the donors to open their heart and wallet in these most challenging and times of testing.

Here is the full text of his letter.

“Dear esteemed SHDF donor and well-wisher, Sat Sri Akal,

Hope you and your loved ones are well and in good spirits in these challenging times. 

I would like to first express my deep gratitude for the immense support you have provided to SHDF in the past. Your generous donations have made an invaluable contribution in providing scholarships to the neediest and most vulnerable but bright students in Punjab and neighboring areas. During the past twenty years, SHDF has awarded over seven thousand three hundred scholarships, allowing these students — around seventy percent of women — to pursue university studies. The students have gone on to obtain a wide range of well-paying professional jobs. Your donations have transformed the lives of not only the scholarship recipients themselves but their families and often even their whole communities.

As you know, the pandemic has hit India extremely hard. Many families, already amongst the poorest and most vulnerable, have lost whatever meager sources of income they had. The dreams of the students and often their entire families are being crushed due to this health and economic crisis. In this situation, the demand for SHDF scholarships is high and rising. The students need your help more than ever.

Of course, the crisis has affected many of us here in the US also, with our jobs, businesses, and incomes being impacted. Many of us have been facing hardships too. The pandemic has in addition prevented us from holding our traditional fundraising events. These factors in turn have meant that, despite our ongoing virtual fundraising efforts, our funding has suffered. We are thus facing a severe shortage of funds, at the very time when the demand for scholarships is the most pronounced.

For 2020, we have committed to providing 888 scholarships compared to 688 in 2019, which requires a marked increase in funds. We look to your continuing spirit of Seva to contribute generously for the scholarships — your donation will be invaluable at this extraordinary juncture. We will also be organizing a virtual get together soon and which I hope very much you will be able to participate in (we will share with you the details of the webinar shortly).

Now, more than ever, our students need you. Your help in this crisis will be immensely beneficial and will continue the process of transforming lives that you have been so kindly part of over many years.

Look forward to speaking with you soon. Please take care.”

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