Below is her short but sweet testimonial on how her journey with Givelight began. We are inspired by her kindness and dedication. 

“I happened to attend Givelight’s 5th Anniversary/Ramadan event by chance, when a friend invited me to come as she was going to be selling her Eid cards on site to help raise money for GiveLight. I was blown away by the event–the speakers and the gentle reminders they provided on the duty and honor of supporting orphans, testimonials from young GiveLight supporters, how quickly money was raised even though it was not a fundraiser, and finally, and most importantly, the founder herself, Dian Alyan. From that moment to now, even though I have heard her story multiple times, I am moved to tears and heart strings are pulled in all sorts of directions. 

I didn’t think about getting actively involved in Givelight until a year later when a friend sent an invite for an exclusive brunch at the St. Regis in Southern California. I immediately recalled that moving event in the Bay, and was extremely excited that this organization was going to make it’s SoCal debut. Many of our current Givelight SoCal chapter members were present at that first event, and all of us felt immediately we wanted to help support all the precious orphans. From that point on, we have had multiple events–large and small– throughout SoCal in our quest to raise awareness for Givelight’s efforts. I still travel to the Bay to support GiveLight events, have even found myself in Morocco with a dear friend, praying on the land the Moroccan orphanage was to be built upon, and got a taste of Paris via Dian’s eyes.

Dian is someone I look up to and admire greatly for her passion, humility, and ihsan (excellence) in all she does, and is someone I am blessed to call a dear friend. 

I still get goosebumps when recalling an intro that an community leader did years back at a GL gala, as he introduced Dian–The Prophet (peace and blessings upon him) said that the one who takes care of orphans will be like this with me on the Day of Judgement, and then held up his two fingers side by side.“

~Roohe Ahmed

Read here about our spectacular event in SoCal that Roohe put together with our amazing SoCal team.