Press Release
Bangladeshi Community in Houston, Texas, USA, along with the support of Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH) launched a fund raising program to help recent flood-affected people of Bangladesh. Volunteers from two major Bangladeshi organizations, Bangladesh Society of Greater Houston (BASGH) and Bangladesh Association, Houston (BAH), as well as several Islamic organizations and many social activists participated in this effort. The program started with raising funds from about 18 ISGH mosques during two Friday prayers and ending with a Fund Raising Dinner on Sunday, September 9, 2007.
In the fund-raising dinner, Br. Rodwan Saleh, the President of ISGH; Councilman M. J. Khan of the City of Houston; Dr. Abdul Hannan Khan, the President of BASGH; Mr. Afzal Ahmed, the Chairperson of BAH; as well as the heads and representatives of several Islamic organizations spoke for the cause. A slideshow is then presented highlighting our beautiful country of birth – Bangladesh, as well as the havoc caused by the recent flood in the country. Sheikh Rauf Alkhawaldeh from Dallas, Texas, was the main fund-raiser for the event. More than $70,000 (seventy thousand dollars) was raised, and it was already decided before launching the program that the collected funds will be donated to the “Chief Adviser’s Relief and Welfare Fund” of Bangladesh Government.
Including many other donations that came after our fund raising night, which came from various mosques, individual donors, as well as that from ISGH, a check of $100,000.00 (one hundred thousand dollars) is written by ISGH in favor of the Embassy of Bangladesh in Washington, D.C. with a memo to the Chief Advisor’s Relief and Welfare Fund. The original check is hand-delivered to the Ambassador of Bangladesh in Washington, D.C., M. Humayun Kabir, during the Bangladeshi Presidential visit to New Orleans on November 5, 2007. A copy of the check is sent to the Chief Adviser’s Office in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
It is to be noted that Br. Aftab Silat, General Secretary of ISGH, as well as many ISGH Shura members and various mosque directors provided exceptional supports to raise funds in their mosque premises. Members from the Bangladeshi Community in Houston who participated in the month-long fund-raising drive included Mr. Emran Gazi, Dr. Abdur Rob, Mr. Mohammad Prodhan, Dr. Abdul Hannan Khan, Mr. Afzal Ahmed, Mr. Sanzid Haq Ditto, Mr. Shamim Ahmed, Mr. Golam Mostafa Echo, Mr. M. R. Chowdhury Nantu, Mr. Nurur Khan Tara, Mr. Nur Hossain Akon, Mr. Mohammad Al-Amin, Mr. Mohammad Nurur Akhtar, Mr. Mohammad Amanullah, Mr. Nishan Khan, Mr. Abu Ershad Asad, Mr. Asif Raihan Pavel, Mr. Iftekhar Alam Leton, Mr. Imtiaz Ahmed Pavel, Sohel, Dr. Bazlur Rashid, Mr. Abdul Alim Khan, Mr. Hasan Rahman, Mr. Sagir Imam, Mr. Ibrahim Khan, Mr. Mustafizur Rahman, Mr. Mitu, Mr. Rusho, Ms. Shamsun Husain Lily, Ms. Bakul, Ms. Nasimatun Nahar Foara, Mr. Masum, as well as many others. For further information, please contact any of the following:
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Mr. Emran Gazi (713) 562-8143 |
Dr. Mohammad A. Rob (281) 684-4914 rob@uhcl.edu |
Dr. Abdul Hannan Khan (832) 768-7722 Impulse210@aol.com |
Mr. Afzal Ahmed (281) 996-1062 Afzal.ahmed1@sbcglobal.net |
A team of fund-raising volunteers from Houston went to New Orleans to hand over the Bangladesh Flood Fund-Raising check of 100,000 (One hundred thousand dollars) to Bangladesh Ambassador to USA, Mr. M. Humayun Kabir. The check is handed over by Dr. Hannan Khan, President of Bangladesh-American Society of Greater Houston (BASGH) on behalf of the Bangladeshi in Houston.
Group of volunteers from Houston met Dr. Iajuddin Ahmed, President of Bangladesh. Sitting beside the President’s left is his wife, Dr. Anwara Begum, and to his right is Dr. Hannan Khan, President of Bangladesh-American Society of Greater Houston (BASGH).
