Nearly 700 CAIR-Philadelphia supporters and invited guests filled the Springfield Country Club ballroom on March 15 for our chapter’s 8th Annual Banquet. It was a joyous affair for all who attended. The evening program began with a welcome by our wonderful MC Maryam Elarbi, followed by a beautiful Qur’an recitation by Sohaib Mannan. One of the highlights of the banquet was a multi-media program, narrated by a group of 9 CAIR staff and activists, on the banquet theme of “Faith and Freedom.” Internationally known Muslim scholar and community leader Imam Zaid Shakir of Zaytuna College then stirred the hall with his inspired call for social justice. As a finale, comedian Azhar Usman left us laughing uncontrollably with his hilarious routine satirizing everything from Muslim family life to the idiocy of Islamophobia.
And due to the generosity of the all those who attended, CAIR-Philadelphia raised over $170,000 in donations and pledges. Know that your contributions will go a long way to insure that CAIR continues to serve the Muslim community, and all of the Delaware Valley, by:
- Providing free legal services to those facing employment discrimination and government persecution;
- Training Muslim youth and their parents to respond to anti-Muslim bullying;
- Empowering the Muslim community by offering workshops about local and national politics; and
- Participating in interfaith coalitions on issues of human rights, economic and racial justice, and climate change and sustainability.
