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Day of Dignity is Back
Resources, food, and clothing for our neighbors in 2021 Familiar As volunteers filed in and out of Masjids, community centers, and parking lots turned into full on warehouses for resources, the buzz of IRUSA’s Day of Dignity left an aroma in the air. We’d been longing to get the feeling back that COVID-19 interrupted. That feeling was community. It was the feeling of service. And most of all it was the feeling of working together for a better world. Our very own Interim Director of Programs Araif Yusuff mentioned just weeks ago,”They say the happiest people are the people who are in service to others. And when you’re there, all…
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Behind the Vest: Emergency Response to Hurricane Ida
IRUSA’s own Araif Yusuff discusses Hurricane Ida relief August 2021: One of the most challenging disaster response months IRUSA has faced since the inception of our humanitarian mission and effort. On one hand, more than 500,000 Afghan refugees were suddenly displaced in Afghanistan or in foreign countries that were put on notice of their arrival just days before–they fled turmoil and increased violence that came on the heels of the U.S. withdrawal after 20 years in the country. On the other hand, category 4 Hurricane Ida slammed against the southern shores of America, with the gusto of the second most-damaging hurricane in Louisiana history. More than 1,000,000 people were left…
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IRUSA Rep Send Dispatch from the IFG20
IFG20 conference features triumphs and challenges recorded by IRUSA staff By Director Public Affairs Christina Tobias-Nahi WATCH WHAT A RELIEF POD INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS CHRISTINA TOBIAS-NAHI HERE NOW The Interfaith G20 Summit “Time to Heal: Peace among Cultures, Understanding between Religions” took place in mid September in Bologna, Italy and IRUSA was proud to have not only been an advisor to the local organizer of this event FSCIRE (a research institution that publishes, trains, serves, organizes, welcomes and communicates research in the field of religious sciences, with particular regard to Christianity, Islam and the religions with which they have been in contact) but also an active participant…
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Volunteers Help Fight Hunger in Haiti
Hear firsthand how one of largest food packs went down By Volunteer Zeba Haseeb How many of us begin dreaming at a young age of all the things we want to achieve when we’re older? Some of us dream about careers and others about traveling all around the world and immense in different cultures. But how many of us can visualize a future for ourselves when the next meal we are having is uncertain. IRUSA has made it their top priority to not only help communities in need of meals, but also help the youth achieve their goals for a prosperous future. The school feeding programs specifically encourage children to…
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Catastrophe and Uncertainty Blanket Countries
Earthquakes ripple in Haiti, a humanitarian catastrophe looms in Afghanistan, and displacement blankets Ethiopia Cold Reminder of The Past in Haiti On August 14, Haiti experienced a country-wide earthquake causing over 2,000 deaths so far with many casualties still being counted. The 7.2 magnitude earthquake has also vastly destroyed and disrupted countless communities’ infrastructure. Another 53,000 houses were destroyed and nearly 12,268 people were injured. This crisis comes in the aftermath of the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in July. According to reports by the New York times, Two cities, Les Cayes and Jeremie, located in Haiti’s southern peninsula, have reported major devastation with people caught under rubble and buildings…
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Hot Meals and Hearts
Chicago and NYC feeding programs blast off Ready, set, go We may never know what a “post-covid” world looks like or how the affects this mass interruption of what the world called normal. In the face of all of these new developments of how we live life some sobering facts remain. Hunger in the U.S. is still one of the most daunting challenges we face as a country. According to feeding America, In 2019, 34 million people lived in poverty in America. For a family of four, that means earning just $25,000 per year and before the coronavirus pandemic, more than 35 million people faced hunger in the United States, including more than…
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Dar al-Hijrah Qurbani brings out Community Strong
One of VA’s largest mosques partners to fulfill Udhiyah rites Busy Bees The cars steadily pulled into the gated parking lot of Dar Al Hijrah mosque in Falls Church-Fairfax County. One by one, they navigated the nearly full lot to get something a little different from the usual Thursday food pantry allocations. On this particular Thursday, Aug. 5, people waiting in line were scheduled to receive a 5-pound piece of lamb, a food that aptly symbolizes the Islamic tradition of Qurbani. Islamic Relief USA’s (IRUSA) Qurbani campaign enables people who normally don’t have access to high-quality meat to have a taste of it. In addition to upholding a religious tradition,…
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Distribution of Qurbani takes Main Stage
2021 IRUSA Qurbani food program sky rockets Islamic Relief USA is proud to say that in the year 2021 our community of donors raised the bar even higher distributing over 150,000 Qurbanis. In one single swoop, with an array of dedicated partners, more than 30 countries saw Qurbani arrive at the doorsteps of the most vulnerable. As more distributions continue even at home here in the U.S we look forward to hearing from those we were able to serve and all of you who gave with an open heart. Recovery for COVID-19 is an effort of mind, body, and soul. We have to continue to think of those who had…
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Venezuela in Crosshairs of Devastation
Public affairs reps attend forum for assessment of current crisis By Allison Brown, Intern in Communications and Public Affairs In conflicts of the past, Venezuela housed thousands of refugees fleeing throughout Latin America, providing a source of stability to neighboring countries during their periods of crisis. Due to recent political instability, Venezuela has experienced an 8,000% increase of Venezuelans seeking formal refugee status with an estimated population of 5.4 million fleeing to the neighboring countries of Columbia, Brazil, and Guyana. Reflecting upon this year’s World Refugee Day, refugees and internally displaced peoples of the Middle East and Northern Africa still remain large in Islamic Relief’s aid and thoughts, but an…
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Fighting Hunger and Inequalities in Food Access
Brown bag education series tackles a top priority By Konah Brownell, Intern in Communications and Public Affairs When it comes to addressing food insecurity, it’s not so much that we don’t have enough to go around. Rather, it has more to do with structural inequalities or inequities. That was the message from Dr. Laté Lawson-Lartego, an interim co-vice president of Global Programs at Oxfam, who was the featured guest in a virtual Islamic Relief USA “Brown Bag” webinar on Wednesday, July 7. “Poverty and food insecurity exist not because of the lack of resources or opportunity but because of inequality,” he said. During the one-hour session, Lawson-Lartego spoke about the…
