STATEN ISLAND, NY — The Pakistani Civic Association of Staten Island (PCASI) will celebrate Pakistan’s 77th Independence Day on Sunday, September 22 at 1:30 p.m. on the South Meadow of the Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden in Livingston.

Led by Dr Mohammad Khalid, president of the association, the event will include Pakistani food, music, rides and activities for children.

The co-chairs are Sadia Sheikh and Dr Sunnyia Khan.

Recognized at the event will be Aamer Ahmad Atozai, Consul General of Pakistan in New York, North Shore City Councilwoman Kamillah M. Hanks, Staten Island and Brooklyn vascular surgeon Dr. Inamul Haq, educator Dr. Fakhra Haq, and NYPD Deputy Chief and Staten Island Borough Commander Joseph M. Gulotta.

Raffles and games of chance – with great prizes including computers, laptops and TVs.

The suggested donation is $25 per family. The Pakistani Civic Association event is open to the public. For more information and reservations, contact Maureen McNamara at 718-948-7000.

Dr. Aamer Ahmed Atozai

Aamer Ahmed Atozai is a Pakistani Foreign Service officer with over twenty years of experience. He holds a Masters degree in English Literature from the University of Peshawar. His last assignment was as Director General for East Asia and the Pacific. During his professional career, he has worked at the Pakistan High Commission, Canberra, Dhaka and the Embassy of Pakistan in Moscow. Atozai is an expert in Russian language and has also worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Islamabad in various capacities. He is married with three children.

ADVISOR HANKS

Hanks has more than 20 years of experience in the public and private sectors. In 2012, she founded the Historic Tappen Park Community Partnership, where she worked with civic leaders, community groups, and local schools to drive cultural and economic development in Stapleton and surrounding neighborhoods. She pioneered Staten Island’s first YouthBuild program, which provides out-of-school and unemployed young adults with a pathway to advanced vocational training, leadership development, job training, and valuable life skills.

At the onset of COVID-19, she partnered with local small business owners and students from her YouthBuild initiative and created a training program that made more than 5,000 face shields that were donated to firefighters, first responders and healthcare workers across Staten Island and the New York metropolitan area.

Hanks founded the Minority Women in Business Association of Staten Island to address inequality and disparities for women of color in business and was among the recipients of the Young, Gifted and Black Entrepreneurial Awards in February 2021. She was appointed by Staten Island Borough President James Oddo to the NYC Panel for Education Policy and served as Staten Island’s representative until 2016.

Hanks was a 2009 National Council of Negro Women Honoree, as well as a SIEDC 20 Under 40 Leadership Award recipient.

An alumna of New York’s Coro Neighborhood Leadership Program, she was honored by New York State Senator Diane J. Savino as a Woman of Distinction in 2015. In 2001, she worked with producers and starred in a Staten Island documentary short, “Ferry Tales,” which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2004. Hanks resides in Stapleton with her family.

Doctor Inamul Haq

Dr. Haq is board certified in general and vascular surgery as well as venous and lymphatic surgery. He is an attending physician at Maimonides Medical Center and has served on the Mount Sinai School of Medicine faculty, specializing in the treatment of venous disorders. He is a pioneer in the laser treatment of varicose veins. He is the founder and director of the Laser and Varicose Vein Treatment Center in Ocean Breeze and has been recognized by the New York City Council and the New York State Assembly for his community service. Dr. Haq’s greatest passion is providing education to underprivileged children. Along with his wife, Dr. Fakhra Haq, the couple has been instrumental in building 12 new schools in remote areas of Pakistan, where some 6,000 children are enrolled.

Doctor Fakhra Haq

Dr. Haq is an educator and specialist in teaching English to immigrant students in public schools who speak languages ​​other than English. She started the after-school program Project Arts and, as its coordinator, wrote grants to fund it for her school, which has many socioeconomically disadvantaged students. The grant funds helped all elementary students obtain tickets to the Museum of Natural History and attend the Studio in a School program to learn art from an artist. She has worked for many years in Staten Island public schools as a teacher, teacher trainer, and principal trainer. She is a permanent member of the New York University Think Tank and helps design programs for these students. Dr. Haq provides community service and has received awards from the State Assembly and the Pakistani community in New York.

GULOTTA DISTRICT COMMANDER

NYPD Deputy Chief Joseph M. Gulotta has served the Police Department for over 32 years. He is currently serving as Commander of the Staten Island Patrol Borough after serving as Commander of the Brooklyn South Detective Borough. Gulotta has leveraged his investigative experience, with a specialty in narcotics work, to solve multiple precinct-level conspiracy cases, and has used innovative crime reduction methods to earn the Unit’s Crime Reduction Citation in 2013 and 2015 as a precinct commander. A gang-busting program was created in 2012 under his leadership and was subsequently modeled throughout the NYPD. He held numerous leadership positions over 14 years with the department, including Commander of the 73rd Precinct, 67th Precinct, Brooklyn South Narcotics Borough, Brooklyn South Detective Borough, and Executive Director of Brooklyn North Patrol Borough, Queens South Patrol Borough, Brooklyn South Detective Borough and the Criminal Enterprise Division.