Street Kids Funds Holds Informational Outreach Event in Elk Grove  

By Ras H. Siddiqui

There are many organizations who are helping kids in Pakistan get access to education. The largest effort is The Citizens Foundation (TCF), and some others worth highlighting are Developments in Literacy (DIL) and the Human Development Foundation (HDF) which have already established quite a presence here in America and have reached out to the Pakistani Diaspora in the process. And although this list is not complete, and because the need is so great in our country of origin, that even if we doubled their combined efforts, it is still not enough. And the addition of a new kid on this block can and should also be encouraged.

With a motto of “Creating a better tomorrow – 20 Kids and 20 Families at a time” let us welcome Street Kids Funds (SKF). It is currently aligned with two Street Kids Rising Scholar Foundation (SKRSF) locations in Multan and Peshawar in Pakistan respectively and is currently in the small is beautiful phase, with future growth in mind. The organization is led by two co-founders Farah Mirza and Sabiha Ibrahim and Executive Director Fahad Aziz, supported by many other members of the community who are engaged in some outreach work.

It is for this reason that SKF ventured out to  inland California and held an informational outreach event, an Iftar, at the Virsa Event Center in Elk Grove, California (just south of Sacramento) on March 15, 2025, during which Farah and Fahad along with Erfan Ibrahim (via zoom) were present to share some relevant information about the organization with area Pakistanis. And they did this with the help of Azmi Gill, Beela Sheikh, Rabina Khan, Waqar Rizvi and Shazia Shakir, all well-known personalities in our community here.

The formalities started with a surprise guest, a world renowned one, Qari Muhammad Rafiq Naqshbandi Sahib from Pakistan who presented a fine recitation from the Holy Qur’an and a Naat just before the breaking of the fast. The Iftar and Dinner which followed was quite hectic because of the large number of people present but the employees at Virsa managed everything well, the food was served hot, and it was well prepared.

Following the meal, Fahad Aziz and Farah Mirza took the stage and welcomed everyone and shared a short presentation. After words of welcome, the team that helped put together this event (already mentioned above, plus Imran Chaudhry) was thanked along with Virsa for hosting it and providing the food. A brief history of SKF was presented with an introduction to its founders. Fahad also shared his thoughts on Pakistani Americans visiting Pakistan and enjoying the company of their family and friends, eating amazing food, and attending weddings. But on our visits, we also  notice servants and underage kids working in homes or on the streets, a painful reality. Sabiha and Farah, the co-founders of SKF, want to make a positive impact on the lives of some of these children, said Fahad. All these kids deserve education, help, and opportunities, he added. And that is the story behind this organization.

A short and moving documentary video was also shown, highlighting SKF’s ongoing work in Pakistan. It was a refresher course on the great need that exists in the country and how children whose only reality is their poverty are faced with stark choices and how SKF is trying to make a difference in the lives of a handful of them. One needs to be reminded that most of us who have come and settled in America were successful mainly because we were educated. The key out of poverty in Pakistan is education and the future overseas workforce from that country will need to be far more skilled than it is today to be competitive.

Farah Mirza next came on stage and elaborated on what SKF has been doing in Pakistan to help some of the children there. She reminded us of our own journey and asked what we can give back to our country of origin in return. More than half of Pakistan is not educated so the challenge is great. Two SKRSF learning centers are functioning and providing support to children there. She said that the goal of SKF is not to construct schools, but to get disadvantaged kids ready for decent schools. In other words, to get them to the point that they know enough to benefit from regular schooling. And for that the family of these children sometimes needs to be supported too. The learning center in Multan has been running for about 7 years now and the one in Peshawar has become active more recently. The SKF group is planning for the next five years now at an annual expenditure of $30K to $40K per year, which also needs to be increased. That is where our donations come in.

Erfan Ibrahim next provided his input via zoom. There were some technical difficulties with the connection, but the main part of his delivery was that while other organizations are helping to educate kids in Pakistan SKF is targeting those who are not helped by them, because the need is so great. He said that the group and the community there are pleased with the progress that SKF funding has made. The goal is  to enable the education of some kids in Pakistan and to continue that work and this explains why there is a need for our monetary support.

Since this event was not a fundraiser, one hopes that SKF will have gathered enough interest from this outreach Iftar program to create an additional source of support from Central California. The poor children of Pakistan deserve some attention from us and any contribution that we can make towards educating them would be appreciated.  

(SKF can be reached online at  https://streetkidsfunds.com/  for more information)