Marshall Direct Fund

New & Exciting Events Coming Soon

Annesha — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 22:45:01 +0000

If you or anyone you know lives in Chicago, DC, NYC, Houston, London and/or Lahore and would be interested in participating in or helping organize an MDF event, please contact us. We have exciting plans to be in all cities in the coming months.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to the U.S. supports MDF

Annesha — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:55:43 +0000

Pakistani Ambassador, His Excellency Husain Haqqani delivered a powerful and candid presentation at our annual fundraiser in Aspen. He spoke about the recruitment of child soldiers in Pakistan, the domestic and international threat it poses, and the importance of education and access to knowledge in order to curb its development.

“..the conflicts these young kids are involved with are not conflicts of their making… every young Pakistani child who gets to go to school gets an opportunity -in life, it is one recruit denied to extremist groups…There is a great opportunity to change minds. The generation that was brought up on hate, if they are replaced by a generation brought up with a better understanding of the world, a more hopeful and positive understanding of the world, there will be less conflict! It’s a beginning…”

MDF is delighted to report that the event raised $75K this year, more than the last few years and despite the suffering economy.

Thank you for your generous contributions and ongoing support!

The Economic Impact of Education

johnmcmahon — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 22:32:08 +0000

This graph demonstrates the vital importance of education to economic attainment. According to the International Labour Organization, each additional year of primary education raises a female’s earnings by 15%, and a male’s by 11%. The average girl in Pakistan who receives no education can expect to earn $1/day, and a boy $2/day; after receiving five years of education, as children in MDF-sponsored schools do, a female can expect to make over twice as much, and males will 69% more.

MDF Friend’s New Book

Annesha — Thu, 27 May 2010 02:54:27 +0000

Marshall Direct Fund friend and supporter has written a fiction-based-on-fact thriller about the Philippines. It is available for sale in paperback: https://www.createspace.com/3441540 (CreateSpace is a subsidiary of Amazon.com) and the Kindle Edition: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003J35BY0. Please share with others!

Political developments in NW Pakistan

johnmcmahon — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:35:18 +0000

This is a very significant article (written for the New America Foundation by our own Vice President, Hassan Abbas) that explains recent political changes in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province and the changing dynamics of insurgent groups.

An issue such as this is incredibly important for our own mission, to enable access to education in Pakistan; these insurgent groups have often targeted schools in NWFP, especially girls’ schools, in their attacks.

An excerpt from the article can be found here. The full version is here (PDF).

GlobalGiving Matches Donations by 50%

johnmcmahon — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 14:51:23 +0000

MDF provided Vocational Training for 100 Women in Pakistan by equipping mothers with skills and training to produce clothing and embellished goods in order to launch successful businesses, generate income, send their children to school, and lift their families out of poverty, thereby enriching their quality of life and security.

Thanks to your support MDF received $9,195 from 69 donations between April and June 2010, of which $2,400 was invested towards the purchase of back up energy resources for our existing schools.

http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/vocationaltraining-for-100-pakistaniwomen/updates/

Thank you for your support and contribution to MDF through Global Giving during our Open Challenge between April and June.

Global Giving is an online marketplace that connects people to the causes and countries they care about. Individuals select the projects they want to support from those listed on the site, make a tax-deductible contribution, and get regular progress updates – so they can see your impact.

Get the MDF Toolbar and support our work

johnmcmahon — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:17:06 +0000

We have something new and exciting we’d like to share with you! It’s the new Marshall Direct Fund toolbar – once added to IE or Firefox, each time you shop at more than 1,300 stores (from Amazon to Zazzle!) a percentage of your purchase will automatically be donated to Marshall Direct Fund – at no cost to you (and you may even save money as the toolbar provides coupons and deals as well!). The toolbar also has a search box – each time you search the Internet, about a penny is donated to Marshall Direct Fund. http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/marshall-direct-fund

And please pass this along to all of your friends. The two minutes it takes to add this toolbar to your browser can make a lifetime of difference!

Get the toolbar NOW! http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/marshall-direct-fund

MDF at Aspen Fashion Week

johnmcmahon — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:51:22 +0000

Just a quick reminder – this week is Aspen Fashion Week, so be sure to check out MDF events and fund-raisers! All the details you need are right here!

Donate frequent flyer miles to MDF

johnmcmahon — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:42:28 +0000

We’ve launched a new program for supporters of MDF to donate their frequent-flyer miles to us to help us travel to and from Pakistan as well as travel domestically for conferences and other events.

We currently have programs set up with Frontier and Southwest, and will be adding more airlines soon!

Frontier: If you have an Early Returns account with Frontier, please click here to fill out the form to gift miles to MDF. Our account number is 30048740621, and the name on the account is Silbi Stainton.

Southwest: With Southwest, you may transfer your earned Awards flight to MDF. Because this requires you to book a flight in our name, please contact us at info@marshalldirectfund.org to make arrangements!

If you have unused miles with other airlines, be sure to check back soon as we will be adding more shortly!

Thank you for your support!

New Ways to Get Involved

johnmcmahon — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:48:11 +0000

Launching MDF’s new Circle Program! -

Are you, or someone you know, interested in advocating for women, children and access to primary and vocational education in Pakistan? Perhaps you, a friend or someone in your network is looking for a worthy cause. We have several tools and ideas to help start a new circle, and will provide plenty of support. MDF Circles are an innovative and collaborative way to support the mission of the Marshall Direct Fund. E-mail info@marshalldirectfund.org for more information!