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Muslim Americans prepare food for feeding the homeless during one of the “Muslim Americans Answer The Call” campaign projects
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26 August 2009
Muslim Americans Launch Community Service Initiative, August 26, 2009(“Muslim Americans Answer the Call” complements Obama program)
By Ahmed Mohamed
Staff Writer
Washington — President Obama, in his Ramadan message to Muslims worldwide, recognized Muslim-American organizations engaged in volunteering and community service works. “This summer, people across America have served in their communities, educating children, caring for the sick, and extending a hand to those who have fallen on hard times. Faith-based organizations, including many Islamic organizations, have been at the forefront in participating in this summer of service. And in these challenging times, this is a spirit of responsibility that we must sustain in the months and years to come,” Obama said. (See “Presidential Message on Ramadan.”)
The president’s community service initiative, United We Serve, focuses on projects that address clean energy, education and literacy, health care access and awareness, economic recovery, disaster preparedness and support for veterans and military families.
Muslim Americans are showing their support for Obama’s community service appeal by launching the Muslim Americans Answer the Call campaign.
The campaign is a national grass-roots effort to mobilize every Muslim American to take part in the president’s initiative. The effort is led by Dalia Mogahed, executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies and a member of the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
The campaign aims to expand the effectiveness of existing organizations by engaging new volunteers in their work, as well as encouraging volunteers to develop their own projects with friends, family and neighbors.
The campaign also seeks to serve as an example of how Muslims Americans live their faith and their citizenship by serving their communities.
Mogahed also launched www.muslimSERVE.org, a Web site that identifies a national goal of 1,000 service projects for Muslim Americans. It provides ongoing information about different projects and a mechanism for recording Muslim-American contributions to this effort. The projects will be recorded in a final report for the president and the public.
In her speech at the recent Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) convention, Mogahed identified the goals of service for Muslim Americans:
• To answer President Obama’s call to help rebuild communities.
• To respond to the millions of Americans in need who have been hit hard by layoffs and foreclosures, or who do not have affordable health care and education, or need other social services.
• To answer God’s call to serve humanity to confirm faith with good works.
She also said many Muslims are already serving America — there are dozens of free and low-cost health care clinics run by Muslims, for example. But, Mogahed said, “There is a call for us to do more — from the president, from the needy and from God — and we must answer this call.”
Below are some examples of the service projects under way and registered at www.serve.gov, the government Web site run in conjunction with United We Serve.
• The Day of Dignity project in Baltimore, Maryland. This is a grass-roots effort coordinated by Islamic Relief and involves volunteers who distribute clothing, hygiene items, toys and food and provide health screenings to homeless people.
• Project Downtown, led by the Muslim Student Association and Project Downtown in Orlando, Florida. It is an initiative led by Muslim youth across America to take bag lunches to homeless people, especially those living in the downtown areas of large cities. The goal is to meet their needs in any way possible. That may mean through weekly food and clothes distribution or through housing assistance and help in finding a job.
• Health Screening, a project based in Chicago and run by the Compassionate Care Network and American Muslim Healthcare Professionals. The Compassionate Care Network is a unique model of charitable care from a network of providers who treat patients comprehensively. The core of the program includes Muslim providers performing health screenings at churches, synagogues and temples.
Mogahed cited the importance of community service and engagement: “Despite our challenges, we are fortunate enough to be part of one of the most tolerant societies in the world. However, our goal should not be to live in a country that merely accepts Muslims, but rather one whose greatest aspirations are realized by their contributions.”
Other organizations are engaging their membership in the call to service. The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) recently co-sponsored a program at a northern Virginia mosque to feed the homeless.
CAIR also suggested these programs for potential Muslim-American volunteers:
• “Green mosque” programs to make mosques and other Islamic institutions more energy efficient.
• Health screenings and health fairs at mosques to promote public health awareness.
• Individual and group tutoring and literacy initiatives by Muslim professionals.
• Feeding the homeless and needy at Ramadan iftars.
• Food and blood drives at mosques and Islamic schools.
• Visiting the sick and elderly.
• Educational programs designed to promote entrepreneurial activities and economic recovery.
“Many Muslims are already volunteering in their communities. These valuable efforts need to be expanded and made known to the larger society. This is a unique opportunity for American Muslims to tell their story through service to others,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad.
