Dear CAIR-Philadelphia community,
As many of you know, I hail from Turkiye — I am the only member of my family living in the US. Last Sunday, my colleague Asiyah Jones and I conducted an Anti-Bullying Workshop and Know Your Rights conversation at MYCP’s Sunday school. I went to bed that night and woke up in the early hours of Monday to work on the final touches to CAIR-Philadelphia’s Annual Report that we will share with you during our banquet on March 11, 2023.
As I sat by my laptop at 2 AM Monday morning, I saw the news coming from Turkiye and Syria. What was not immediately clear at that point is that the earthquake that hit the region is one of those once-in-a-century disasters that we are accustomed to read in history books.
Alhamdulillah, praise be to God, both my and my wife’s immediate family members are well. Some of our friends and relatives lived in immediately impacted areas but they survived, and they are trying to relocate to safer areas.
I am sending this note to thank our broader community for the generosity and care shown to people of Syria and Turkiye. Our masajid are organizing fundraisers and collections, and the community WhatsApp groups are rife with solidarity messages and encouragement of du’as/supplications. Seeing community members whose own families are dealing with difficulties, from the Uyghur lands to Afghanistan, from the still flood impacted parts of Pakistan to Bangladesh, from Yemen to other parts of the world, as well as the interfaith community, is a testament to the beauty of our communities.
Please remember especially our brothers and sisters in the affected areas of Syria where the lack of a caring state structure and years of displacement and oppression has made this disaster even more difficult. CAIR shared a list of such organizations published by the American Coalition for Syria.
Our National office yesterday called on the American public and the Biden administration to increase support for the efforts of humanitarian aid organizations helping victims of the earthquakes in Turkiye and Syria as the death tolls continues to rise and winter conditions make the aftermath more difficult.
CAIR also encouraged mosques nationwide to call on their congregations to support aid efforts during Friday congregational prayers (Jummah) this week.
Yesterday, our National office also shared a list of supplies requested for donations by the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C.
There are also local collection sites at numerous masajid in our area, including at: IECPA in Allentown, TAMCA Mosque in Levittown, Isabet Academy in Levittown, and Diyanet Mosque in Delaware.
Numerous aid organizations are providing support to victims on the ground in Turkiye and Syria. These include:
- AFAD
- Baitulmaal
- Diyanet Center of America
- Helping Hand for Relief and Development
- Imamia Medics International
- IMANA
- Islamic Relief
- Muslim Aid USA
- Nahar Relief
- Penny Appeal
- Syrian Forum
- United Hands for Relief and Development
- United Mission for Relief & Development
- Mercy Without Limits
- Pure Hands
- Life for Relief and Development
- Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS)
- Sunrise USA
- Zahra Trust
- Zakat Foundation of America
Please email us at info@philadelphia.cair.com to share the names of additional organizations that should be listed.
[NOTE: Please Do NOT send donations for earthquake victims to CAIR-Philadelphia, which does not collect or distribute humanitarian aid]
