“(The righteous are those) who feed the poor, the orphan and the captive for the love of God, saying: ‘We feed you for the sake of God Alone; we seek from you neither reward nor thanks.” – Quran, 76:8-9

The proceeds of this campaign will help sustain, empower and protect the Refugees, Orphans and Needy in Columbus, Ohio. It will help prevent and stop drugs, gangs and human trafficking (modern day slavery) ,  through the following programs and services:

1. MY Family Pantry & Soup Kitchen (Served 200,000 meals/snacks to 13,000 people in last 6 months)

2. MY Deah's Store (Provides clothes, shoes and household items for free or a very low price)  

3. Youth Programs (Kids Club, Tutoring Program, Soccer Team, Reading Buddies, Youth Leadership Development for at least 1000 children & youth)

4. Parenting Workshops (45 workshops to improve their social and communication skills; their relationship with their children; to equip them against criminals, to help them get better jobs; to help them better educate and raise their children - Aim to help up to 300 parents)

5. ESL Classes for Parents & Youth (to educate up to 75 individuals this year) 

6. Job Trainings & Employment (trained/employed 46 individuals in 2016. Aimed to train 100 individuals in 2017) 

7. MY Deah's Warehouse (Used clothes, shoes & toys business modeled after Salvation Army's model to generate steady funds and employment for the community - Will train and employ up to 25 individuals) 

25,000+ Muslim Orphans, Refugee and Needy Youth At Risk In Columbus, OH.

Columbus has been a home for about 70,000 refugees. It has the second largest Somali refugee population in the US. It has also been a home for refugees from Iraq and other countries. Majority of them are Muslims. Their stories are similar to our Syrian brothers and sisters that are escaping the civil war in their country. These brothers and sisters have been living under severe poverty situations for so long that their children have now become an easy prey for pimps, drug dealers, gangs and other criminals in the inner city. Similar is the situation of majority Muslim refugee and low-income populations across America.

The MY Project USA has been focused on saving and empowering the most vulnerable families since 2015. In the last two years, we have gained a lot of grounds and, with your support, we hope to achieve many more goals this year. 

Prevent Trafficking, Gangs, and Drug Abuse

ISSUE: Currently, Ohio ranks first in the Opiate Deaths and fourth in Human Trafficking. This puts Ohio children at a greater risks anyways. For refugees families it adds more challenges.

Prostitution, trafficking and drugs are rising up by every passing day. At MY Project USA, we are dealing with the cases of runaway girls and drugs more often. We have 9-10 year old Muslim gangsters in a particular neighborhood. 

In mid May, two ten year old kids were fighting with real gun and one actually shot a fire for just 3 dollars. Last month, three young men from Rochester NY were robbed and attacked by young Muslim gangsters.One got killed on spot. The witnesses of these incidents are working in our office.

ROOT CAUSES: Poverty | Hunger | Homelessness | Family Violence | Gangs| Lack of Parenting Resources for Refugee Parents & More

OUR STRATEGY: PREVENT | INTERVENE | EMPOWER

OUR SOLUTION:

In our pilot program on the west-side of Columbus, OH, we have been organizing our youth and parents in the affected neighborhood to address the above issues through various program including Food Pantry, Soup Kitchen, Soccer Teams, Kids Club, Youth Leadership Program, ESL Classes, Parents Trainings, Job Trainings, MY Deah’s Store, Helpline, Initiatives to Address Domestic Violence and Parental Abuse, Health Screenings and more direct services for the refugees, poor and needy in Columbus, OH.

Pro-Refugee Advocacy, Issue-based Lobbying and Coalition Building to gain more support from the larger community.Muslims Against Human Trafficking  

Community Outreach at ISNA Convention and local events. We have also launched a new chapter of MY Project USA in Dayton, OH, focusing on countering domestic abuse in Muslim households in the area.

Two Years Highlights

In just two years, MY Project USA has become the largest Muslim social services organization in Columbus. We are literally taking care of hundreds of families every month. Our food pantry is distributing an average of 15,000 meals and snacks to more than 100 families on every Saturday. 

The Columbus State Community College, YMCA, YWCA, The Boy Scouts of America, United Way of Central Ohio, Mid Ohio Food Bank, and many other prestigious organizations have now become our official collaborators. We work closely with the Columbus Police Department, Homeland Security Department and many interfaith and other community organizations. 

We are endorsed by the Ohio State Rep.  Adam Miller; Mayor Andrew Ginther, Councilwoman Elizabeth Brown and Councilman Stinziano of the City of Columbus. Many other Ohio legislators, City Council Members of Columbus, Hilliard, and Dublin and several other elected officials are now familiar with our work and many are looking for resources within their domain to help us further. 

We have just started a new chapter in Dayton per the request of the City of Dayton. 

The Cost of Projects - What We Need

As we are preparing to kick off our warehouse business this year, we hope to be able to self sufficient by the end of this year. But to get to that point we need your help. We have broken down our ask into different tiers per the priority of our project. Money collected through this campaign will be spent by the priorities set here for this year. 

First $23,000 will be spent  on the pantry. Next $35,140 will be used at MY Deah's store and so on so forth. Please see the itemized breakdown below. 

Earn Jannah (Heaven's) Perks!

You can earn Jannah Perks by investing in a project that is not only addressing modern day slavery, human trafficking,  but it is also raising strong Muslim youth leaders that would become the torchbearers of Islam as community leaders and decision makers in coming days in America.

Please see the giving levels and contribute as much as you could.

4 THINGS THAT YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW:

Please remember that in this fight against pimps and drug dealers everybody and each dollar counts.

1. Please donate generously.

2. Keep us in your prayers.

3. Help us spread the words. Please use LaunchGood Tools on the top of this message to spread the word via social media.

4. Volunteer your time.

MY Project USA's Zakat Eligibility

MY Project USA is Zakat eligible since it falls into six of the eight categories of Zakat as commanded by Allah SWT in the following verse of Quran:

"Zakat expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy and for those employed to collect [zakah] and for bringing hearts together [for Islam] and for freeing captives [or slaves] and for those in debt and for the cause of Allah and for the [stranded] traveler - an obligation [imposed] by Allah . And Allah is Knowing and Wise. (Quran 9:60)"

The first and second category of “poor and for the needy” applies since we are helping poor local and refugee Muslim families.

The fourth category of "bringing hearts together" applies since we serve all needy people regardless of their faith, ethnicity or race. We also work with individuals that are attracted to Islam and Muslims and prefer working with us to learn more.

The fifth category “freeing captive” applies since we are addressing human trafficking, the modern day slavery, prevention and intervention. We are specially focusing on freeing sex-slaves from their masters and then helping them in reestablishing their lives.

The sixth category of "paying the debt" applies since we take care of families, single moms and family violence victims dealing with debts and financial instability.

The seventh category “the cause of Allah” applies because we are protecting and empowering Muslim youth and families in America. Through our work we are addressing drugs, gangs, violence, suicides, radicalization, homelessness, and hunger through capacity building of the individuals and the community. Through the documentation and publicity of our work we seek to address Islamophobia as well. Our goal is to preserve Islam and Muslim community in America at its best.

According to the majority scholars, Zakat can be given to those who volunteer to fight in the cause of Allah (SWT) and do not receive a fixed salary from the government. This also applies to the operational cost/salaries of a non-profit organization like ours that fits the other categories of zakat eligibility.

Of course people can also donate from any Sadaqa funds for this cause as well.