An Evening Of Hope For Pakistan Flood Relief

Pleasanton, CA --December 4, 2010- Buddies without Borders, in collaboration with Imran Khan Foundation, held an elegant gala at the Castlewood Country Club in Pleasanton attended by 350 people on December 4, 2010 raising over $131,000 to aid the Pakistan flood relief effort. Almost 20 million people with a death toll of close to 2,000 were affected by the Pakistan floods which began in July 2010 following heavy monsoon rains resulting in the Indus River flooding until approximately twenty percent of Pakistan's total land area was underwater. The number of individuals affected by the flooding exceeds the combined total of individuals affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami, the Kashmir earthquakeand the Haiti earthquake.

Imran Khan, sports super star and former Pakistan Cricket Captain turned philanthropist, humanitarian, Chairman of the Board of Shaukat Khanum Hospital (the only charity based cancer hospital of its kind in Pakistan), previous member of the Parliament and current leader of the political party Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf, updated the attendees with his signature candor on the current status of the flood and the efforts his foundation is undertaking to mitigate this disaster. The two main areas that he discussed in detail from the Imran Khan Flood Relief Fund were the seed dispersal program to allow the farmers to begin replanting in order to stave off a future famine after the current crops had been ruined as well as the adopt a village, school or family program. A fund raising tour for flood victims was organized by Mrs. Fauzia Kasuri, President Women Wing of PTI and Chairperson of International Fundraising for Imran Khan Foundation. The five city tour in the US was held in Philadelphia, Houston, Sacramento, San Francisco and Las Vegas resulting in raising nearly $1 million.

Buddies Without Borders (BWB) is a local organization whose mission it is to spread awareness for the Pakistani flood victims through the collective power of American schoolchildren as they use service learning projects to recognize the need for global citizenship, empathy and empowerment and take action now as they grow into the leaders of our future. "When the awareness is raised about the plight of other children who are less fortunate then themselves the children respond in amazing ways and they want to give back without concern of who their helping," says Sue Ackerman. The children from BWB performed the song Dil Dil Pakistan as seen in the music video from its website. Emma C. Smith Elementary School in Livermore has been selected as the pilot program for the BWB service learning project. Buddies Without Borders aired its first music video featuring local Bay Area children in October 2010 at a community awareness training session held at Emerald Glen Park, Dublin California. “We believe music speaks one language and has a farther reach and a greater impact. Through music we carried our message and hoped for the world to notice the plight of millions in Pakistan,” says Nabeela Khan. The music video has been monetized and has already had 23,000 views on YouTube.

Both Buddies Without Borders and the Imran Khan Foundation were recognized with a Congressional certificate for their efforts in raising awareness and funds in support of the flood relief effort by Congressman Jerry McNerney’s office as presented by Ayesha Sheikh. Anyone with interest in donating to this worthy cause may still do so through The Imran Khan Foundation which is a nonprofit corporation and a registered tax-exempt public charity under section 510 (c)(3) @www.imrankhanfoundation.org. Information about Buddies Without Borders organization may be found at www.buddieswithoutborders.org.