OCTOBER 2023

FOUNDATION UPDATE
Falling into the
School Year
To meet the needs of the community, the CCF’s Early
Childhood Development program has expanded its
class offerings to include Preschool and Pre-Kindergarten.
Additionally, GED classes have doubled in
class size due to increasing enrollment in the program.
There is still time to register for classes including:
GED, ESL, and Citizenship Preparation classes. For
more information on the classes, contact Rachel Hall
by calling 586-722-7253 or emailing to rachel.hall@
chaldeanfoundation.org.
Congratulations to the CCF’s 2023 Scholarship Winners.
Honoring Chaldean Scholars
The CCF experienced a recordbreaking
year, awarding 33 scholarship
recipients with a total of
$103,500 in scholarships at our
Scholarship Award Reception on
August 24.
The CCF has a large donor
based of donor families and
businesses including: w3r Consulting,
Yvonne Nona Memorial
Scholarship Fund, Drs. Nathima
and Peter Atchoo Family Foundation
Scholarship Fund, the
Abdul Karim and Jameela Sesi
Memorial Scholarship Fund,
Derek Dickow and the Children’s
Health Fund at the Children’s
Foundation, DA Advisory Group,
and Alline Salon Group.
For more information on our
scholarship program and how to
contribute to our Karim and Bernadette
Sarafa General Scholarship
fund, visit chaldeanfoundation.org
and search Scholarship
Program.
Scholarship donors left to right: Nona Family, Patrick Tomina,
Andrew Dakki, Matthew Abbo and Derek Dickow.
The CCF Little Scholars program.
What it Means
to be Chaldean
CCF President Martin Manna was interviewed on
Sunday Edition with Alisa Zee to discuss the Chaldean
community and the triumphs and trials the
community has faced.
In the 20-minute, 2-part interview, Martin Manna
also discusses the origins of the Chaldean American
Chamber of Commerce and the Chaldean Community
Foundation, what it means to be Chaldean, and the
current state of the Chaldean community in Iraq and
other areas.
You can watch the interview on the Chaldean
Community Foundation’s YouTube page.
Celebrating
New Americans
The newly designated American citizens received
certificates of the Citizenship class completion and
had the opportunity to meet with and speak to Sterling
Heights Mayor Michael Taylor. Then they began
the process of becoming registered voters with help
from the Sterling Heights City Clerk’s office. Attendees
also had the ability to fill out sample ballots and
use a tabulator to get familiar with how voting works
during election cycles.
This year, the Chaldean Community Foundation
helped to file 1,654 immigration applications for prospective
new Americans.
34 new American citizens were celebrated in front of friends and family for achieving their citizenship on
September 14 at the Chaldean Community Foundation.
12 CHALDEAN NEWS OCTOBER 2023