ParsaCommunityFoundation

On April 18, PARSA Community Foundation hosted two day of service events in Santa Monica and San Francisco, in celebration of Earth Day. The event in San Francisco was organized with Aidin Aghamiri and Young Persian Professionals and was held at the Presidio. About twenty selfless volunteers spent the day immersed in habitat restoration activities such as invasive plant removal and seed collecting.



In Santa Monica, about twenty eager volunteers converged at the Santa Monica Pier and spent the day cleaning the beach, with efforts led by PARSA CF volunteer Najdi Rafaty. The successful event was part of the Adopt-A-Beach Program, an educational project of the California Coastal Commission.



PARSA CF thanks everyone who participated in Earth Day events and helped restore our environment!

Each spring, Pasadena resident Dr. Nazee Rofagha celebrates the Iranian New Year, or Norooz, at a location in Pasadena. The event is filled with traditional dance, music, food and prominent speakers. This year, Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard proclaimed in the beginning of the program at All Saints Church that “Norooz is now a Pasadena tradition.”

Dr. Ronagha began organizing these annual Norooz events three years ago, for local people with ties to Iran and those who are interested in the culture of Persian people as well as its history, to get together while celebrating Norooz. This year, the two key speakers were renowned British Archeologist Dr. David Stronach and JPL Astronomer Trina Ray who discussed her view of the Vernal Equinox. To read more about the event and view photos, click here.

Each year, Shiva Sarram holds a Norooz, or Persian New Year, presentation for students at her children's Montessori school in Fairfield County, Connecticut. During the day, they learn about Norooz traditions such as the haft seen table and spring cleaning. At the end of the day, the children go home with lentil goodie bags and instructions on how to grow their own traditional sprouted lentils (sabzeh), in addition to a handout that explains what Norooz is to their parents.

This year, she and fellow mother Sally Reed explained the traditions to the entire school, focusing on items on the symbolic haft seen table she set up such as eggs, goldfish and coins. The items symbolically correspond with values such as renewal, health, affluence, and happiness. The children were enamored with the table and learned words in Persian as they went along.

"Many of them recognize the similarities in the cultures," said Sarram, who said she wanted students to understand that people and cultures are all very similar at their base. "If we could all remember we were all one, maybe we could stop bickering."

To read more about Sarram's presentation, read the full article here. To see photos of the celebration, click here.

In 2004, Iranian-born entrepreneur Shabnam Rezaei started Persian Mirror, an "online magazine to teach the world about Persian culture." The website was soon boasting 5 million hits per month and attracted the attention of producer Dunstin Ellis. He contacted Rezaei and captivated her with a cartoon about a young Persian boy named Babak who is living in the U.S and feels stuck between two cultures.

From this idea, Norooz Productions was born. Providing both non-Iranians and Iranians with lessons in life and customs is the mission of Nooroz Productions. Since the first cartoon, Babak and Friends, she has completed production on Mixed Nutz, which has a similar theme, but with more characters and different ethnicities.



Now, Rezaei is starting Oz Noz Distribution Company, which is an online platform similar to Amazon.com that sells DVDs and other related content. "We will sell and offer free and downloadable content for multicultural children," she says.

Fox News recently interviewed Rezaei about her accomplishments and inspiration . Click here to read the full interview.