USA, Houston Our Special Correspondent : In the presence of Honorable Consul General of Pakistan Aftab Chaudhry; the State of Texas Representative Dr. Suleman Lalani; Tariq Majeed- Pakistani Association Austin & former Test Cricketer Jalaluddin, the community of Houston under the Alliance for Disaster Relief (AFDR), Helping Hands USA, Houston Karachi Sister City Association has sent on August 5th, 2023, to Pakistan a 40-Feet large container of brand-new items, like winter provisions, household, hygiene, etc.
These items will be distributed to those suffering from the 2nd year in a row floods in several parts of Pakistan, as the country is reeling from climate change affects & economic down trends.
“It is heartening to see Pakistani diaspora of Pakistan always coming forward to sincerely assist fellow country persons in dire needs having hit by natural calamities,” exclaimed Honorable Consul General of Pakistan Aftab Chaudhry.
On this occasion, special State of Texas Certificate of Recognition for the philanthropic endeavors of AFDR was given by Honorable Dr. Suleman Lalani (D) to President Muhammad Saeed Sheikh & Board Member Dr. Yaqub Sheikh.
“With the facilitation by our implementing partner Helping Hand For Relief And Development (HHRD), AFDR provided immediate relief to more than 65,000 Pakistanis hit by super floods of 2022 & presently constructing 155 homes for those, whose homes were destroyed by the floods: Through the philanthropy of Patron-in-Chief of AFDR Syed Javed Anwar of Midland, Entrepreneur Tanweer Ahmed of Houston, Tariq Majeed of Austin, and several hundred others, AFDR was able to raise $1 Million Cash & $1 Million In-Kind to send help in 2022 &early part of 2023, and now again has launched the Super Floods 2023 Recuperation Efforts with the sending of this container,” informedCoordinator of AFDR Muhammad Saeed Sheikh.
Director of Development of HHRD iLyas Hasan Choudry informed about the importance of the brand new relief items in the container that in fact have developmental value, and informed that HHRD launched $15 cash campaign for Pakistan Floods for 2022-2023, and 85% of the target has ben achieved: HHRD is presently making 621 homes for those affected by Floods of 2022, have started the relief efforts of those affected by Floods in Pakistan of June 25th, 2023 on-wards, supporting 10,000 orphans, 1,600 Children with Disabilities, 18 Skills Development & Livelihood Centers, doing more than 700 water projects, and much more with a budget of $17 million for Year 2023.
Tariq Majeed of Austin, Dr. Yaqub Sheikh of AFDR Houston,Shah Haleem of Bangladesh Association also spoke on this occasion. The event was attended by several prominent Community leaders including Saad Ansari, Akhtar Abdullah, Siraj Narsi, Mehmood Ahmed, Rehman Patel, Mehmood Marfaniand others.
