Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!
I hope you’re enjoying a peaceful and joyous holiday season with your family and friends.
Tomorrow, we are going to be closing the books on our 2018 fundraising. Why is that so important? Because if we don’t make our year-end goal of raising $250,000, we won’t have the funds we need to accomplish our plans for next year. We still have $85,659 left to raise to meet our target and need your help to make it.
Because of your generous support, here are just some of the wonderful things we have accomplished together as a community. Together we have:
Supported Emerging Leaders Through SikhLEAD
Our SikhLEAD program continues to be an outstanding success for empowering aspiring young Sikh American leaders. This past Summer our SikhLEAD Internship Program had 20 placements — the largest total cohort in our history! We placed 10 Interns in Washington DC for our National Program on Capitol Hill, in federal agencies, and in public policy organizations. Additionally, our New Jersey Internship Program places 10 students across the state in the offices state Assembly members and Senators, and for Governor Phil Murphy.
Increased Awareness of Sikhs and Sikhi
For the fifth consecutive year, Comcast has re-aired the PSA SALDEF created depicting who Sikh Americans are. SALDEF received $1.05 million in airtime over this past Summer with 94,000+ airings. To date, Comcast has donated nearly $7.4 million in advertising for 660,000 airings across the Comcast network of channels.
Additionally, SALDEF partnered to develop a curriculum and a video on Sikhism with Blue Chalk Media and Pearson PLC, the largest book publisher and education company in the world, The materials are hosted on the Pearson website and taught in World Religion course. Pearson worked with SALDEF to provide content expertise and background research
Empowered the Community on Civil Rights
With a view towards empowering the community and building relations with local, state and federal agencies, SALDEF organized 22 Know Your Right Forums in the last 2 years. Topics at these forums ranged from hate crimes, TSA screening protocols, immigration concerns, school bullying and workplace discrimination. We continue to encourage local and federal agencies highlight career opportunities at their respective agencies and departments, to encourage diversity and inclusion.
Amplified the Sikh Community’s Voice
During this past mid-term election cycle, we engaged with communities across the country to ensure that local Sangats exercised the SikhVote. In Virginia and New Jersey we mailed out over 5,000 informational cards, conducted voter registration drives at nearly a dozen Gurdwaras, and called Sikh voter households to ensure they knew about the upcoming elections and their rights as voting citizens.
Additionally, SALDEF engaged with the Wear Orange campaign for the fourth annual National Gun Violence Awareness Day. On Saturday, June 3 we held an event in Sterling, VA to honor victims of gun violence in the Sikh and South Asian community and celebrate their lives, to ensure the tragic loss of life of the community has had, is part of the national dialogue on hate violence.
Interjected the Sikh American Voice Into the National Discourse
SALDEF partnered with the Freedom Forum Institute at the Newseum in Washington DC to host the first of its kind panel on Religion in the National Discourse, on October 29th. Days before the midterm election and after one of the deadliest attacks on a religious center, the diverse panel explored some of the hardest issues related to Religion in relation to Public Policy. This event was well attended and aired on the internet as well as major networks nationally. After the great succes of this forum SALDEF is pleased to announce a regular forum series that will debate the topics of the day. The purpose of the series will be to bring together diverse opinions, allowing for constructive discourse between opposing narratives, in hopes of creating new perspectives and finding cooperative ways forward.
I know this note is coming to you in the midst of the holiday season, but I hope you’ll take a moment to do something truly important for all Sikh Americans. I hope you’ll give generously today.
Chardi Kala!
Kavneet Singh
Board Chair
P.S. Please forward this to your friends and family to encourage them to support SALDEF and help us start 2019 strong!