Dear Friends of Shabahang,

On behalf of The Iranian Cultural Society of America (Shabahang)’s Board of Trustees, we hope you and your loved ones have enjoyed a joyful and fulfilling summer.

This past year, we continued our virtual monthly sessions, bringing our community together through outstanding speakers, engaging discussions, and rich cultural programs. Through announcements on Shabahang’s website and social media platforms, we have kept our members informed and connected, while ensuring our gatherings remain a welcoming place to celebrate Persian culture and heritage.
As many of you know, Shabahang is one of the rare Iranian cultural organizations in the United States that has thrived for more than three decades. We remain committed to presenting the best of Persian literature, poetry, and music, and to hosting annual cultural events that draw hundreds of Iranian Americans from the Tri-State area each year.

This year also marks the 13th anniversary of Shabahang’s Scholarship Fund, established to support young Iranian and Iranian-American university and high school students in achieving their academic and professional goals. Additionally, in 2023, a scholarship award was added by the Hejazi family on behalf of their late mother, Dr. Sousan Safe. This year, the Shahpari family donated an additional award in memory of late Dr. Hasan Shahpari, a long time Shabahang friend and contributor. Your generosity made it possible to award 7 students in support of their academic and professional goals. Iranian students from across the tri-state area, with their family and friends, proudly attended the Shabahang monthly meeting on June 6th, and Shabahang awarded $4500 to six outstanding university students and $150 to an excellent high school student raising our scholarship awardees to a total of 53 students .We invite you to visit our website to view this year’s scholarship award winners.

In recent years, we lost our financial support from the Middle East Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Despite these challenges, we remain determined to sustain our scholarship program and monthly cultural gatherings. We are seeking your financial support, through membership fees and donations, to help us not only continue these programs but also return some of our cultural gatherings to in-person events. In addition, we are looking forward to taking our annual cultural events, such as Shab-e Yalda, to new event spaces that can offer improved services and an even better experience for our guests. Each year, Shabahang hosts over a thousand participants in outdoor activities such as Mehregan, Chahar Shanbeh Suri and Sizdah bedar. Our Yalda and Nowruz celebrations, as well as our talent shows, are
highly popular. We had over 400 attendees at our Nowruz celebration.

As the Iranian and Iranian-American community continues to grow, we look to you—our friends and supporters—to help us keep this momentum alive. By contributing to our Scholarship Fund and/or General Fund, you make it possible to preserve our cultural programs, inspire our youth, and ensure that the next generation remains connected to its heritage.

Shabahang is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization (EIN 23-2624501), and your contributions are tax deductible. Annual donations made in your name, or in memory of a loved one, are deeply appreciated.

Thank you for your continued generosity and support. We look forward to seeing you at our upcoming events. For any
questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us at contact@shabahang.org.
Sincerely,

Parvaneh Khosravi
President, Shabahang

Simin Dadparvar, M.D.
Chair, Shabahang Scholarship Program