MWC Ramadan Basket Project 2013 Newsletter A Labor of Love

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1 Muslim Women s Coalition (MWC) Greater Washington DC Area Office MWC Ramadan Basket Project 2013 Newsletter A Labor of Love Facts and Figures from this year s project: MWC members have contributed 11 years of service to the most needy in the homeless shelters and the abused women and children s shelters in our communities in VA & MD. Over 85 families were served in 2013 with your help! This year s project is valued at $ Our Interfaith Partners this Ramadan included: Seekers Church Washington DC, Nova Community Catholic Church VA, Arlington Interfaith Council VA & John Calvin Presbyterian Church VA This community initiative was led by the following MWC members: Sabiha Iqbal & Shaila Arif Zulfiqar: Montgomery County MD Tasneem Anjum & Aisha Bhatty: Fairfax County VA Sadia Ahmad & Nazish Minhas: Fairfax County VA Dianne Carroll: Arlington County VA Some of our wonderful volunteers were: Amir Almash & family, Marie Monsen, Yasmin Burns, Shaheena Khan, Mehreen Farooq, Rosy Martin-Ross, Aisha Bhatty, Iqbal Gul Sharif, Tasneem Anjum, Sadia Ahmad, Zaira Ahmad, Aisha Iqbal, Nazish Minhas, Sabiha Iqbal, Shaila Arif Zulfiqar, Zafar Farooq, Dianne Carroll, Marie Keefe, Meg Tuccillo, Cathy Showalter and Eric Carroll There are no words that can express our gratitude to our generous friends, supporters, volunteers, coordinators, donors and partners who helped make MWC Ramadan Basket Project 2013 a success. Thank you!!

2 P Please view our effort in pictures. MWC volunteers Rosy Martin & Mehreen Farooq select items from the need list while they shop at Dollar Tree. Mehreen and Rosy are ready to check out the 8 shopping carts they had filled with over 600 items while Yasmin Burns makes sure the list tallies with MWC requirement. Rosy and Mehreen hold the long receipt of items bought that day & headed home to make the baskets!

3 AAASSSS SD Another very long receipt! We went out again to shop during Ramadan and were done shopping by Iftar time. Over 700 items bought for Ramadan Baskets for both the Muslim & Non-Muslim families at Sullivan House (AACH) and Doorways for Women & Families! In addition to the items from the Need List, each Muslim family received a beautiful prayer rug, prayer beads with 99 names of God inscribed on it and a box of dates to open their fast with. Towels bought at Wal-Mart were added in each basket for the clients at Doorways.

4 T Each year our volunteers sort the items per basket such as the personal hygiene & food items to match the needs of the clients at the shelters. It truly is a Labor of Love because each basket gets tender loving care by our volunteers! These baskets are ready to be delivered!

5 Sabiha Iqbal, Shailah Zulfiqar & their team prepared & delivered 20 baskets to the Betty Ann Krahnke Center in MD on August 1 st Dianne Carroll and her friends at Nova Community Catholic Church prepared 8 baskets for the Muslim families at AACH. These baskets were delivered on 7/30/13. Zafar Farooq helped them out in unloading the baskets Ahmad, Muhammad Nazim & Noor Fatimah made two baskets this Ramadan Tani Nadeem (standing next to Zafar Farooq) delivered 2 baskets to MWC. (One basket was donated by Ghazala Nasir.) Right two pictures: Sadia Ahmed delivered 12 MWC Ramadan Baskets to LAWS on 7/26/13. Nicole Acosta (Executive Director Laws) received them. 6 baskets were donated to MWC by Talat Chughtai for the Muslim families at LAWS.

6 Our biggest delivery was to Doorways. For this reason, two separate deliveries were made to Doorways for the 30 Ramadan Baskets. MWC volunteers: Aisha Bhatty and Zafar Farooq (right most picture) gladly helped out on 7/30/13 Doorways and MWC's Greater Washington DC Office have been partners since 2002! Over the years MWC has helped the Iraqi Refugee families during Ramadan. Our special thanks to Amer Almash (standing with his son in the picture to the left) & our very dear MWC friend Marie Monsen from John Calvin Presbyterian Church in Annandale VA for making the delivery possible!! (* Read Marie Monsen s letter below.) 7 baskets (2 donated by Nasreen Dossani) were donated to the Iraqi families through their effort on 8/18/2013. Scroll down to view the listed shelters and thank you letters from the shelters to MWC.

7 The following shelters and families were served in 2013 during the month of Ramadan by Muslim Women s Coalition s Greater Washington DC Office. Doorways for Women & Families in Arlington VA (30 RB donated) AACH (Sullivan House & Adopt - A- Family program) in Arlington VA (19 RB donated) Loudoun Abused Women's Shelter (LAWS) in Loudon VA (12 RB donated) Iraqi Families in partnership with John Calvin Presbyterian Church VA (7 RB donated) Betty Ann Krahnke Center (BAK) in Montgomery County MD (20 RB donated)

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11 In an forwarded to MWC Director Uzma Farooq, Marie Monsen (who helped deliver the Ramadan Baskets to the 7 Iraqi Refugee families in VA) writes about MWC s work to her friend at John Calvin Presbyterian Church. On 8/26/2013 2:51 PM, Marie A. Monsen wrote: Hi Heidi- Each year during Ramadan, Muslims are called to fast from dawn to dusk and to give food/alms to the needy. When our church began working with Amer and Nidaa and their family, the Muslim Women's Coalition (MWC) contacted us with an offer of a Ramadan basket of food for them. The family was very grateful--not only for the food, but for the generosity of the American community of Christians and Muslims who reached out to them. The next year, the MWC provided baskets for 3 families- Amer's and his two brothers. When the three families got on their feet, Amer began helping the MWC to deliver baskets to other Iraqi families who were in need. This has continued and Amer now brings his sons along to teach them the importance of giving back. (Like many of us have done through ACCA ministries.) Through these six years, John Calvin has continued to serve as a bridge between the MWC and needy Iraqis fleeing the violence in their country. Our relationship with Amer and Nidaa has truly been a blessing to all of us. Thanks to everyone who has been a part of this journey. Marie Doorways for Women and Families celebrates its 35 th Anniversary this year and with it some amazing community relationships we ve built along the way! Uzma Farooq and the Muslim Women s Coalition have helped the families serve year after year with essential household and care items they would not otherwise be able to afford themselves. This year, the Muslim Women s Coalition provided Doorways with 30 Ramadan baskets our largest number yet and we could not be more grateful! The women, children and families we serve were so appreciative for the kindness, care, and generosity of the MWC. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do to help those in our community who are most vulnerable! Best, Rachel Rachel Dove Communications and Outreach Specialist Doorways for Women and Families Muslim Women s Coalition (MWC) Greater Washington DC Office: Our work is based on compassion and respect for all humanity and environment. Our volunteers are committed to educating everyone about the beauty of Islam through various programs such as assisting in communal welfare, interfaith dialogue and bridging the gap in understanding the norms of Islamic cultures in civil society.