Monthly Musing: Saving the Lives of Children - Join the TKF Movement

As TKF celebrates its 28^th year, I am especially proud of my daughter, Tasreen, for leading the organization to create an amazing impact on saving the lives of children and teaching nonviolence. The resounding evidence of TKF’s work revolves around helping heavy hearts that need solace and healing so they can excel.

Often, I get the credit for TKF’s success, but it belongs to Tasreen and our brilliant program director, Benita Page, along with an awesome, passionate staff that works long hours at below-market wages because they deeply care about our children and youth. As you read about TKF’s outstanding performance below, open your hearts and share their work with your communities, send kudos to the TKF team—and if you can afford it—give generously since we lose so many young innocent children and youth from gun violence and suicides.

According to PEW Research – gun deaths between 2019 and 2021 rose a staggering 50%! It does NOT have to be this way. The fact that this does not happen in other 1^st world countries like ours means we can stop this. TKF has created a viable, impactful, and affordable solution to stop violence early in life. I wish we had the resources or support from the Department of Education to be in every school that needs our magic – because many do! Please help with our collective duty as conscious citizens to leave a better world for our children and grandchildren.

Read below for a letter from Tasreen, our TKF 2022 impact highlights, and updates about how you can be a peacemaker yourself.

I want to extend my utmost gratitude for your continued support of TKF. Because of you, we were able to sustain the organization through some of the toughest years our country has seen. In addition, we have been able to strengthen, deepen, and expand our much-needed services, which, as you know, are rooted in advancing peace in our schools and communities. It is rewarding to continue our work alongside each one of you, with the ultimate goal of saving lives.

Over the past year, the TKF staff and board have continued to evolve the organization towards the objective of sustainability in succession. We had intentional conversations about how to maximize TKF programming to positively impact schools and communities.

We focused our lens by going deep with our partners in building their internal capacity to support their students and parents, with the goal of well-being and healing. TKF services and trainings continue to provide life skills and tools to shift communities away from harm toward harmony and peace, by fostering resilience and hope to RISE and THRIVE.

As an organization, we understand our work cannot happen with a silo mentality. For true change to happen, we must closely collaborate with TKF’s community and academic partners. We must commit to coming together in the spirit of community to lift each other up in order to meet the high demand of support needed for our struggling schools and families. Collaboration continues to be a priority of mine. I actively create space to sit in dialogue with community members, thought leaders, and decision-makers—always with the intent to listen, learn, serve, and grow in order to affect change.

Sadly, there’s much more work to be done and our children continue to live in fear in their schools and communities. We cannot do this work alone. We need your help and support now more than ever to affect the growth of the organization and meet the growing demand for our trainings and services.

We thank you again for continuing to champion TKF and helping us create a more peaceful and just world. Every day we step closer to that goal knowing you walk side-by-side with us.

In peace, and with gratitude,

Tasreen Khamisa, Executive Director