Ramadan to Ramadan Under COVID-19: Why Support YOUR Masjid?
Despite the challenges of the past year, your involvement, dua, and support of the Mosque Foundation continue to propel it as a leading Muslim organization addressing the diverse community’s spiritual, religious, and communal obligations.
In 2020, although our doors temporarily closed, our services never stopped. As soon as it was safe, we re-opened our doors to welcome the community while keeping the cleanliness and preservation of our Masjid a top priority. Your generous support maintains the Masjid, Community Center, Al-Siddiq School, Zakat assistance programs and expand endowment properties and improvement projects.
Although we could not open our doors for typical Masjid events, 2020 kept us busy as we successfully transitioned into your homes through our online platforms streaming various educational programs for the youth, families, and adults. On YouTube, 441 videos were uploaded with over 100,000 views and over 1,000 new subscribers. On Facebook, our post reach was 2,060,000, with an additional 6,000 new followers. On Instagram, our post reach was 255,000, with over 500 new subscribers. We also launched an updated Mosque Foundation app with state-of-the-art features. Finally, our newsletter launched over 100 campaigns to 8,400 subscribers to keep the community up to date and informed.
We are blessed with multiple Imams, dedicated staff, and volunteers who have the knowledge and expertise necessary to serve our community. In addition to religious services, thousands of individuals and families received:
- Marriage support and counseling
- Islamic arbitration and mediation services
- Parental & youth counseling
- Other consultations (by phone, email)
Another essential service the Mosque Foundation continued to carry out is funerals with religious rights performed under supervision from our Imams, with extra precautions to keep our team and community members safe during the Janazah (funeral) process.
The Community Food Pantry saw a dramatic increase in families needing support during these difficult times. To keep up with demand, we have purchased a new, more spacious location to keep serving our neighbors in need while maintaining the dignity of families and the safety of our volunteers.
As for civic and social outreach, we deployed dozens of staff members and volunteers to help our community be represented by completing the Census. As a result, we reached over 11,000 members of our community to participate. Additionally, we continued to educate and encourage members to register and vote during the national and local elections. We also hosted a candidate forum in the Masjid parking lot to inform community members on critical issues. Thousands of masks were donated to our community members and to local front-line healthcare workers to help them perform their duties safely. Finally, we held a rally with prominent leaders in support of Black lives.
Regarding Zakat & charitable programs of 2020, 713 checks were issued to local families and individuals in need for a total of $147,000. Since 2010, we have raised $21 million for local and international nonprofit organizations in Ramadan alone. This Ramadan, nearly one million dollars was raised.
We pray to Allah ﷻ to keep us attached to our Masjid and keep our doors open to continue serving our community for generations to come.