Learn About Islam @ Islamic Information Center

All volunteers for Help the Hungry, our monthly soup kitchen service activity, need to print and fill out a waiver form prior to volunteering. This is a new procedure from the soup kitchen where we volunteer. Any questions please contact us.

Volunteers under 18 must bring a completed form signed by their parent the first time they volunteer. If you do not have the waiver form with you, you will not be able to volunteer.

Volunteers 18 and over can bring a completed form with them or fill one out on-site.

Many volunteers came out on Saturday – jazaakumullahu khayran to all! A note from the local district councilmember:

“I’m still amazed at how many volunteers we got out for the event, and the whole area looks much better as a result of it.  Please pass on my sincere gratitude to all of the volunteers who came out to help Saturday morning.”

A few photos from the event:

Cleanup supplies

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We need everyone’s help for the cleanup next Saturday! Spread the word, and let us know that you’re coming!

2009-04-18 Neighborhood Cleanup

Several events have happened recently; here are updates.

Winter Clothing Drive, held late December. Collected and distributed approximately 35 bags of winter clothes. Beneficiaries included:

• Pregnancy Aid of Greenbelt
• A privately-run clothing distribution center in Baltimore that gives clothes for free to those in need
• My Friend’s Closet in Beltsville, a thrift store which benefits the Arc of Montgomery County, which is a program that provides services to mentally disabled adults
• Many local community members from the College Park area

Many thanks to all the volunteers who made it possible, and to the members of the College Park Church of the Nazarene for their contributions.

National Day of Service, January 19th. Approximately 15 adults and youth from Dar-us-Salaam in College Park; from Shirat HaNefesh, a Jewish community in Silver Spring; and several visitors in town for the inauguration joined together to volunteer at the Dinner Program for Homeless Women as part of the National Day of Service. Part of the Islamic Information Center’s regular service program, this month’s event at the soup kitchen was a special opportunity to meet people from various faiths from Maryland and nearby states. Alhamdulillah, our guests took advantage of the opportunity to ask many questions about Islam and Muslims, and it was a very positive exchange of knowledge.

Masjid visit, January 25th. A group of local high-school and college-aged youth visited Dar-us-Salaam, as part of their church youth group’s exercise in learning about different religions. For most of the youth (and also the adult group leader) it was their first visit to a masjid. They were specifically interested in learning about the way Muslims pray, so we had arranged for them to come at dhuhr time so they could observe our prayer. They found it interesting, and commented that they appreciated the opportunity to meet Muslims and ask questions.

We recently signed up with GoodSearch.com and GoodShop.com. Now if you would like to help support our efforts, there’s another easy way to do so, in addition to the donate button on the side of the page (hint, hint!).

Just start using Yahoo! powered GoodSearch.com as your search engine and we’ll receive a penny every time you do a search! Just think about all the searches you do in a week – that can quickly add up!

In addition, do all of your shopping through their online shopping mall, GoodShop.com, and they will donate a percentage of your purchases to us. Your favorite shops like Amazon.com, eBay, BestBuy, Old Navy, Staples, Target, Zappos, etc. are all there. You pay the same price as you normally would, but a donation goes to Dar-us-Salaam! Think about office supplies, school supplies, clothes, shoes, electronics, ‘Eid gifts – all of these things you regularly buy anyways can help Dar-us-Salaam!

To direct your donation to Dar-us-Salaam and Al Huda School (our parent organization):
The above links should automatically fill in our name. But in case the links don’t work and you need to manually find our listing, here’s the web site — www.goodsearch.com. In the “Who do you search for” box, type “Dar” or “Al Huda” and press enter. Select “Dar us Salaam and Al Huda School (College Park, MD)” from the listings.

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Please see below two excellent opportunities this weekend to get involved in our local neighborhoods. Let’s work together to make a difference in our communities!

1) College Park: Saturday, October 25th, 9am – 1pm

COMMUNITY CLEAN-UP DAY: see details below.
RSVP required. Phone or email Christopher Warren at 301-277-3445 or cwarren@collegeparkmd.gov.

2) Beltsville: Saturday, October 25th, 1:45pm-4pm

PRO-DECENCY MARCH: see details below
RSVP not required. Meet at 1:45pm at St. John’s Episcopal Church (corner of U.S. Route 1 and Powder Mill Rd. across Powder Mill Rd. from the CVS store). (more…)

Join your Muslim brothers and sisters at the following festivals, and share the message of Islam. Make this a summer of da’wah!

July 12 – 13 - Celebrate Reston Festival, Reston, VA. Organizer: Why Islam DC. Times: 10am – 9pm (Sat); 10am – 7pm (Sun). Contact us to sign up for a shift and for more info.

July 26 – International Day, Columbia, MD. Organizer: Why Islam DC