Author: thesmafoundation

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Eid Mubarak

If you knew Gulae, you know that she loved getting dressed up more than anyone! This Eid, in her honor,  The Foundation gifted more than 100 girls from Munirabad, Pakistan with an Eid surprise. The girls received colorful new outfits, jewelry, henna, and shoes to wear while celebrating the end of Ramadan with their families. Many of the young girls from this area do not have the means to get new clothes so we wanted to bring them some extra joy this holiday season. We know Gulae is smiling down on all her fashionistas!

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Ramadan Meal Initiative

During the month of Ramadan this year, we were able to provide….

OVER 1,000 MEAL PACKAGES!

The care packages consisted of enough rice, flour, tea, sugar, dates, lentils, cooking oil and other materials to make traditional home-cooked meals for the entire month.

Our initial goal for this project was to deliver 200 meal packages. With your help, we were able to exceed our wildest expectations and help so many people in need! We want to thank everyone who contributed to this great cause whether that be through spreading the word, donating, or volunteering on the ground. Please enjoy some photos from the Ramadan initiative and thank you again!

Ramadan Mubarak!

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Ramadan Mubarak

Hello Friends of the SMA Foundation! 
With Ramadan right around the corner we are excited to share our next endeavor! 
The Foundation will be sponsoring needy families and providing meals during the entire month of Ramadan! The care packages consist of rice, flour and other materials to make traditional home cooked desi food! 😋 A single care package to feed an ENTIRE FAMILY is only a $20 donation! So far we have been fortunate enough to help sponsor 770 families!! With your help we would like to make that number continue to grow! As always THANK YOU for your continued support!

If you would like to get involved in any of our current projects you can send donations to the address below!

you can also contribute online via the donation button 

Sophia Mahmood Ali Foundation
222 E Witherspoon Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40202


Donate Button

Sophia Mahmood Ali Foundation is registered under section 501(c)(3)

Tax ID: 82-4639374  Your donations are tax-deductible 

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Introducing the Gulae Mahmood Middle School

We have some exciting news!!

On Gulae’s 26th birthday, the Sophia Mahmood Ali Foundation is honored to announce that in staying true to our mission, we have adopted a middle school in the Munirabad Village in the flood-stricken Muzaffargarh District in Pakistan. Named after our love and inspiration behind the foundation, it will be named Gulae Mahmood Middle School. Yearly, the school will provide opportunities to around 130 children free of cost— children who would otherwise have no access to formal education. 

The school will provide breakfast and lunch to all students, school supplies and textbooks.  Currently, there are 2 teachers on staff and our goal is to continue to make that number grow. The estimated budget to run the school is roughly $40,000 annually. To all our family and friends, we hope to make this a sustainable vision so children from that area can continue to change their future and we need your help!! Every penny donated in celebration of Gulae’s birthday will go directly in the funding of the school and we encourage you all to continue with us on our journey!

Let’s make this happen.

If you would like to get involved in any of our current projects you can send donations to the address below!

you can also contribute online via the donation button 

Sophia Mahmood Ali Foundation
222 E Witherspoon Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40202


Donate Button

Sophia Mahmood Ali Foundation is registered under section 501(c)(3)

Tax ID: 82-4639374  Your donations are tax-deductible 

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Gulae’s Garden reaches South Korea

On March 25th, 2019 we had the honor of planting a Magnolia Yellow Bird tree in Seoul, South Korea in the “Road to Heaven” section of the Morning Calm Graden! Please enjoy the video below of the planting. Special thanks to Tipu Ahmed, Appna, and everyone else who made this planting possible! Let’s keep “Gulae’s Garden” growing!

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A Sip of Life (Phase 1) Progress

This was a candid video taken by one of our volunteers on the ground! In the video, he states, “this small girl just came for water!”. Later on, a group of boys who were playing cricket nearby also came to drink water.

We are so humbled by the progress that has been made with this project and we hope that everyone continues to participate in any way that they can.
#sipoflifeproject

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A Sip of Life Phase 1 Update

The drilling for all 35 pumps has been completed and we could not be more thrilled! Each pump will be providing pure and clean drinking water to several villages in the flood-devastated area of Muzaffargarh District of Punjab in Pakistan. These villages have lacked access to a clean, reliable source for water which has resulted in many waterborne diseases. We hope that these water pumps will decrease the prevalence of this issue in the area.

We are now in the process of building proper drainage and securing the machines with permanent cement bases in order for the machines to remain functioning for years to come. Special marble plates have also been installed in memory of those who have left us.

“Drilling for the second pump in progress!”

Be on the lookout for updates as the water pumps reach their finishing stages. We are overjoyed by the support we have received thus far and hope to replicate this model in similar areas around the world!

We have received many inquiries from people asking how they can be a part of this noble cause. Funding for Phase 2 of ‘The Sip of Life’ project is currently underway and we encourage you to participate by visiting the Donation page! The cost of each pump is around $500 but any amount allows us to get closer to our goal. Implementation of Phase 2 will occur once we have the funds for the next 35 pumps!

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Gulae’s Garden reaches the West Coast

Gulae’s Garden has now reached the west coast! Thank you to Farah Rana and her family who chose to plant a tree at their residence in Danville, California. Farah Rana wrote, “it’s beautiful like our Gulae”. Below you can see the planting of the tree as well as what the tree will look like in the very near future!

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Our Stories

As the foundation moves forward and searches for new projects, we wanted to find a way to remember Gulae. We would like to share what she means to us, through the stories from our friends and family. If you would like to share your own story,  you can submit to SMAjournals@gmail.com

Asslamoalaikum, I am Amel, the (close to) youngest cousin of Gulae and I wanted to share some memories of Gulae that I have! There are so many that I don’t know if I can even write them all if I wanted to but I selected a few that truly have changed me and gave me a sense of happiness that I got to have so many memories with her: 

      One memory I remember was when we attended a relative’s birthday party and I remember looking around and thinking “Who can I hang out with?” because it looked as if there were only aunties and babies around. Then Gulae walked in. I was so glad she came because I knew I would have a blast talking with her! Throughout the party, I couldn’t believe the time ran out so quickly because Gulae and I talked continuously and It was so much fun to have Gulae talking to me like my older sister and I remember how much fun I had that day. 

   When I was going through a tough time, I remember Gulae coming over and just lending her immense love, support, and kindness. I remember her voice and her smile. She radiated the room with so much of her light. She would always check on me through her texts when she couldn’t be with me. I will miss my sweet older sister/ cousin.

– Amel Kohli

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Some of my favorite memories with Gulae were the simplest. When we first moved into our new apartment we adopted our cat Malala. To say “she was excited about our furry new child” would be an understatement. I remember the first day Malala came home, I came back from work and I walked in to Malala calmly sitting on our ottoman with Gulae carefully holding her paw. Malala wasn’t fighting it. She seemed to be enjoying this pampering from her new mom. As I approach, I take a closer look and realize she had put bright pink claw caps over her nails. Not only that, she had a brand new shiny pink sequin collar and was surrounded by what looked like the entire cat toy section from Target. I couldn’t help but laugh, pink bow, pink nails, she left no doubt that this was her cat. She had her unique way of putting her touch on everything and our cat was no different. She’d always joke  ‘Namath, Malala is me in cat form!’ and especially now that gives me comfort, like a part of her is always with me.

– Namath Ali

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A New Addition to our Garden

And another tree joins the map!

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Thank you to the Akça family who planted a tree in their lovely home in Louisville, Kentucky. Receiving your messages regarding the tree truly made us smile!

A message from Lale Akça:

“We have planted our Dynamite Cape Myrtle tree today. We picked this tree for Sophia because it has leaves that are bright red in the spring! It has bright green leaves in summer and in the fall they turn a vibrant orange-red. It grows up.to 25-30 feet. It is a fast growing tree with the speed of 3 ft/year.”

 

 

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