Dear Friends, As-salaam Alaykum,
On the occasion of the Holy Month of Ramadan, the CAIR-Philadelphia Staff, Executive Committee and Advisory Board wish you and your families Ramadan Mubarak, Ramadan Kareem, a Happy and Blessed Ramadan.
During this sacred month, please consider making a donation to CAIR-Philadelphia. We are a nonprofit organization and all contributions to CAIR are tax-deductible and zakat-eligible.
Donations can be made online at https://pa.cair.com/donate
Since the beginning of 2019, we have already raised over $190,000 of this year’s annual budget of $375,000. We are therefore seeking your zakat and charity to raise an additional $185,000 to meet the ever-growing need for the legal, educational and advocacy services we provide to the Muslim community. In this time of turmoil, your generosity will help sustain and grow CAIR’s indispensable work in the months ahead.
CAIR-Philadelphia staff work tirelessly to serve our communities, as can be seen by this selection of our activities and achievements:
Timothy Welbeck, Esq., CAIR-Philadelphia’s civil rights attorney, responded to over 150 inquiries in 2018 alone about incidents of hate speech, workplace harassment, and school-yard bullying of Muslim students, over double the number from the year before. These hundreds of free legal service hours resulted in multiple victories at the local and state level to secure freedoms and liberties for American Muslim citizens and residents;
Dr. Ahmet Selim Tekelioglu conducted dozens of diversity trainings on Islam, Muslims and religious accommodations, including for the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission), the Executive Board and the Please Touch Museum;
Dozens of anti-bullying trainings for Muslim students and parents by Dr. Ahmet and Timothy provided them with the skillset needed to respond immediately and effectively to bullying by other students, and unfortunately as it is often the case, by teachers and administrators;
Ongoing “American Muslim History” and “Islam 101” courses at Temple University’s OLLI Program and multiple interfaith settings, taught by both Dr. Ahmet and Iftekhar Hussain, CAIR-Philadelphia Executive Committee member;
Media advocacy and engagement by Jacob Bender, CAIR-Philadelphia Executive Director, in print and on radio and TV broadcast, achieved hours of on-air time advocating for the Muslim community, publicity worth hundreds of thousands of dollars;
Free screenings of “Out of Cordoba,” Jacob’s award-winning documentary film about Al-Andalus (medieval Muslim Spain) and its culture of religious coexistence;
Civic engagement-themed khutbas (religious sermons at Friday afternoon community prayers) and hundreds of “Get Out the Vote” calls to increase the political participation of American Muslims.
We invite you to read more about the accomplishments of CAIR-Philadelphia in our 2018 Annual Report (PDF).
We thank you for your support. Wishing you and your loved ones a blessed month of Ramadan, full of tranquility and reflection,
Osama Al-Qasem
CAIR-Philadelphia President
Jacob Bender
CAIR-Philadelphia Executive Director
