By Ana Gomez Salcido 
Removing barriers for refugees and immigrant youth in San Diego was the goal of the Yalla Fundraising Luncheon, held at the Hall of Champions on Thursday, May 19.
Yalla, which means, “let’s go” in Arabic, is a nonprofit in San Diego that combines the promise of education and the passion of soccer to inspire refugee and immigrant youth to achieve a college education.
Since 2010, the organization has helped 1,200 youth improve literacy scores and academic achievement.
“Our vision is to create a college path for refugee and immigrant students,” said Yalla’s Founder and Executive Director, Mark Kabban. “With soccer we want to provide what was taken from them in an early age, a childhood.”
One of the speakers at the Luncheon was 18-year old, Mohammed, who was born in Mosel, Iraq. After fleeing war, he and his mother were resettled by the United Nations in the United States.
Mohammed started high school in El Cajon as a sophomore speaking no English. After two years of being part of Yalla’s College Bound program, he has a 3.6 GPA, and is captain of his school’s varsity cross country and soccer teams.
“When I started school, I was placed in a program for kids who need to learn conversational English, and I needed to learn the language to help my mom pay the bills,” said Mohammed. “Just because I’m a refugee that didn’t know English doesn’t mean that I can’t fulfill my dreams.”
Yalla Board Member Mery Lopez-Gallo mentioned that a lot of people think this organization only helps refugees from Iraq, but it also helps children from South America.
“I joined last year, and it was because they offer free SAT classes and my family couldn’t afford those,” said high school student, Jovana Gonzalez. “After that the classes, I started to meet new people, so I decided to stay in the program.”
In the past two years, 88 percent of the senior students part of Yalla’s programs have been accepted to four-year universities.
“I played soccer in high school and that’s how I met college [representatives] that were helping recruit people. Although I received help at my school, as a first generation student, I decided to joined Yalla,” said future University of California, Santa Barbara student, Irma Figueroa. “If it weren’t for Yalla, I wouldn’t have got into the schools I got into.”
The Luncheon included an auction hosted by stand up comedian Nemr Abou Nassar which helped raise thousands of dollars for the organization and also provided a good time for the attendees.
Yalla focuses on four main programs: New Beginnings, K-8 Scholar-Athlete Academy, College Bound and Competitive Soccer.
People interested in helping the organization can make a tax-deductible donation to Yalla. For more information about the programs and donations, people can visit the organization website, www.yallasd.org or call (619) 270-7072.