By After a weekend filled with over-indulgence on the culinary and commercial front (we’re looking at you, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday), it would indubitably feel good to give back to our communities.
Enter #GivingTuesday. Traditionally celebrated on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving in the United States, #GivingTuesday was devised to kick-off a season of philanthropy concurrent to a time when many are focusing on end-of-year giving.
As per the official website, #GivingTuesday harnesses the power of social media and collaboration amongst communities far and wide. Along with the spate of commercial outlets who proclaim to match donations, a helpful directory on GivingTuesday.org will help you find participating organizations, charities, and events within communities in your own neighborhoods, as well as around the country.
But you know we wouldn’t leave you hanging, right? Muslim Girl has compiled a shortlist of Muslim-led campaigns to support this #GivingTuesday, so without further ado, get ready, set, GIVE:
The Citizen’s Foundation (TCF)
This non-profit organization has worked relentlessly, since 1995, to support the education of underprivileged children in Pakistan. It has an active network of over 30 chapters in cities across the United States, and a donation to this organization means contributing towards the operation of 1,482 purpose-built schools providing quality education to 220,000 children, with an all-female faculty of 12,000 teachers.
Winter Blankets
For a nominal sum of USD38, you can provide blankets for 4 people, to stave off the winter chill in Karachi, Pakistan. Predicted to experience a particularly cold winter this time around, this simple, yet noble campaign aims to alleviate the suffering of those who have nowhere to go.
IRUSA is #GivingTuesday to Yemen
We are well-versed in the inhumane suffering of the Yemeni people over the past few years. If there was ever a time to do something about it, this is it. Your donations would go towards providing food aid, or orphan support for what is being described as one of worst humanitarian crises in recent memory.
Gaza Winter Relief – Zam Zam & PaliRoots
This annual campaign provides bundles of warm clothing to the children in Gaza. Your donations would go towards a supply jackets, jeans, wool thermals, socks, and shoes to children between the ages of 4-14.
READ Foundation’s 100 Orphans Campaign
READ Foundation aims to provide a full education to orphans, and your sponsorship would go towards supplies needed to support an education. By donating to this campaign, you are helping orphans break free of the shackled of poverty, thus empowering impoverished youth to permanently change their lives for the better.
Al-Ikhlas Training Academy: Giving Tuesday Campaign
Al-Ikhlas Training Academy (ATA) is a non-profit, full-time Islamic school, established in the city of Detroit. They work towards serving low-income families in the city, as well as the broader Detroit area. If education seems to be a common thread repeated in this article, its because education truly is the greatest gift we can give to help break the seemingly insurmountable cycle of poverty. Donate to help change lives for good at the very root of the problem.
TAYBA: Help 1000s of Muslim Converts in US Prisons
Tayba Foundation is one of the few Muslim organizations in the United States serving Muslim brothers & sisters behind bars. Their work is divided into three areas: Islamic education, life skills, and seamless reintegration into society through support in finding housing and jobs. With Muslims making up 10% of the prison population, and almost all of these inmates being converts, they can go years without access to proper resources through which they can expand their knowledge of Islam. Tayba works tirelessly to address these needs.