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World Refugee Day 2021
Addressing the challenge to support refugees By Christina Tobias-Nahi According to the UN High Commission for Refugees 2022 Global Resettlement Needs Report released this month in recognition of World Refugee Day, for the sixth year in a row, Syrian refugees are among those with the highest resettlement needs, followed by refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Afghanistan, and Eritrea. As a result too of the pandemic, “many of those displaced are now faced with increased poverty, destitution and widespread protection risks, from exploitation, trafficking, sexual and gender-based violence, child labor, early marriage, to arrest, detention, deportation, and refoulement.” Islamic Relief USA has long worked tirelessly to…
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Building Barakah… Out of Legos
12-Year-Old Aims to Raise $100K for Orphans by Building Lego Ka’ba By Rubina Ali Big dreams with big goals Zakaria, or Zak for short, is only 12 years old but he’s found a way to use his passion for building Legos as a way to give back. The young humanitarian from Tampa, Florida, is building the world’s biggest Lego model of the Kaaba, the holy site for Muslims, and using his platform to fundraise for orphans worldwide through Islamic Relief USA (IRUSA). Launched Wednesday, June 23, 2021, Zak’s goal is to raise $100,000 to help 1,000 orphans, and he will release videos regularly on his YouTube channel showing progress as…
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Women Entrepreneurs Graduate in VA
Dar al-Hijra graduates another class By Kara Brunson High achievers Islamic Relief USA sponsors the sewing academy, a program launched by Dar al-Hijrah Social Services, to support socio-economic development goals for the local community. Students become certified seamstresses upon completion of 100 hours of hands-on training in the 4-month program. Stacey Picard, Associate Director of Dar al-Hijrah Social Services and Tahhani Gibaran, Director of Dar al-Hijrah Social Services co-led Tuesday’s event, which was notable for a series of firsts. This spring cohort, the organization’s fifteenth since the academy launched eight years ago, was the first to attend the sewing academy in person since social-distancing restrictions were put in place last…
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IRUSA and FEMA Partner to Fight COVID
Houston becomes site for vaccination support by IRUSA Islamic Relief USA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are on a mission to get as many people vaccinated as possible. IRUSA has teamed up with FEMA again, this time in Houston. For this week, IRUSA volunteers will help out at NRG Stadium (normally home to Houston Texans football team), which is serving as a mass vaccination site. People could choose vaccines from either Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson. The organization, along with SEWA International and the American Pharmacist Association, was part of a team of 14 volunteers. They helped out in various non-clinician tasks to ensure people were inoculated. Among them were…
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Qurbani the IRUSA Way
Putting Qurbani meat in the hands of our neighbors in 2021 With Eid Ul-Fitr in our rearview now begins Hajj season. And as Hajj season enters upon us, we can now shift focus to Islamic Relief’s largest global and domestic feeding program, Qurbani/Udhiyah. Qurbani is special commemoration of Prophet Ibrahim and Ismail’s willingness to sacrifice for Allah’s sake. This year is poised to be another successful facilitation of Allah’s barakah. This Qurbani season we look forward to maintaining and increasing impact.This year over 150,000 Qurbani’s will be managed in over 30 countries with the help of you. People may receive livestock meat of goats, cows, or lamb in a quantity…
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My Search Led Me to IRUSA
Why I Volunteer Series By Volunteer Virginia S. A few years ago, I met a Syrian Refugee. He had escaped the conflict and arrived a few months prior to our encounter. It was at a Starbucks of all places. He was a doctor and had to take all 3 medical board exams here before the U.S. would allow him to practice. We became good friends. He was struggling to learn our systems here and study for his exams, yet he made time to take calls from former patients in Syria. He made time for a pregnant woman still in Syria whose husband had disappeared; the husband was also a doctor.…
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Tales of the Heart
Why I volunteer By Volunteer Ruqqaya SC As a child, growing up in Texas and raised by a single parent, my mother, could sometimes be a great challenge without a father figure and my mom having to play both roles. Nevertheless, she was pretty tough as well as strict. But the one thing I will always remember was her kind heart. Although we were not financially or materialistically wealthy, she had a soft side and empathy for those less fortunate and always giving whatever she could to help out. Animals (mainly dogs and cats) also captured her heart. She always fed the strays that sometimes wound up in our front…
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The Lone Apple – One of Many
A Reflection on the past tragedies in the Middle-east By Volunteer Z. Shaikh History tells us the tale of the rise and fall of people. These stories we often label as tragedies become a part of our distant reality. How can we relate to something so far away from us in time and space? How can we feel the moral and highly metaphysical obligation we have to the tragedies faced by individuals? After all, tragedies occur in our own lives. This call to action is not to say, your own personal matters are not worthy of attention and care but rather the tragedies that seem so distant to us are…
