Vaisakhi Greetings and Latest on Scholarship Round

Dear Friend,

Sat Sri Akal. Very warm greetings to you and your family on the auspicious Vaisakhi day. May Guru Ji’s blessings be on you throughout the year.

We are deeply grateful for your support and are pleased to share a notable update with you.

Latest on Scholarship Process:

· We are now nearing the completion of the current Scholarship round. In this academic year, SHDF will be granting a record number of up to 1800 scholarships. It will be a significant increase from the 1460 scholarships awarded last year and reflects the record number of applications that were received (over 3600).

· SHDF has now provided over twelve thousand scholarships since its inception in 2001. With the multiplier effect of these scholarships through the families of scholarships recipients and their communities, the number of lives transformed is enormous.

· You will be also pleased to know that, as in earlier years, 75 percent of the scholarship recipients this year are female, and 65 percent are from rural areas.

· It is important to note that more than a third of the recipients had an annual family income of less than Rs. 100,000 (that is less than $100 monthly).

· Ceremonies formally awarding the scholarships have already taken place for more than half the recipients in six of the ten centers. Thus, the process that started in July last year — in conjunction with our implementing partner, Nishkam — with the applications being received in our ten centers, is now almost complete. Over the past several months, each application was thoroughly assessed by our central team in Delhi to ensure that it met the strict criteria of need and student ability, and each one of them was reviewed rigorously by our Board members here in Washington DC before the decision was finalized.

· We will be soon be embarking on the new round with advertisements inviting applications being placed in the main newspapers, visits to colleges and universities by center coordinators and volunteers, as well as visits to rural areas as needed.

We have now started deliberations regarding our goal for the 2024-25 academic year.  Given the increasing demand, we expect to exceed 1800 scholarships. With $550 needed per scholarship, we need to raise over $8oo,000 this year.

We humbly request you to donate generously and help us meet these goals. Education is a gift that keeps on giving. 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,

The SHDF Team