Mokhtar Alkanshali and Dave Eggers Establish the Mokha Foundation College Scholarships for Tenderloin Youth

Mokhtar Alkhashali, hero of Dave Eggers’ new book, The Monk of Mokha, has with Eggers established the Mokha Foundation Scholarships. The scholarships will support three young people from San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood in their pursuit of higher education.

Mokhtar Alkhanshali grew up in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco, the son of Yemeni immigrants. He attended Galileo and Washington high schools. After graduating, he attended City College for a time, before pursuing his dream of becoming an importer of coffee from Yemen. His work in Yemen, and his struggles to survive during the civil war, are the subject of The Monk of Mokha.

The three scholarships are for $5,000 each, for four years of college. Each student will receive $20,000 over the four years, with the scholarships maintained by — and wraparound support provided by — ScholarMatch. ScholarMatch is a San Francisco-based 501c3 organization that serves thousands of low-income students. ScholarMatch provides wraparound financial and academic support to ensure that their students, many of whom are first- and second-generation immigrants, not only get into college, but graduate. Because of their unflagging support throughout their students’ years in college, ScholarMatch’s students graduate at 70%, more than 6 times the national average for low-income, first-generation college students.