MY Community Cafe:

Columbus Residents Discover, Endorse MY Community Cafe

Birthday Lunch Become a Delicious 'Adventure' For Miriam & Judi!

Thank you to Columbus residents Miriam Musser and Judi Kauffman, who recently visited the Hilltop Youth Empowerment Center to try MY Community Cafe for the first time! They were gracious enough to speak to us after their lunch to talk about their experience.

Click the image above or button below to watch this video on the MY Project USA YouTube page.

Located at 3275 Sullivant Ave., MY Community Cafe is a pay-forward cafe with all proceeds going to help MY Project USA feed and assist all children, elderly, homeless and other clients on the westside of Columbus.

We are ready to serve our community and clients at a new level. This cafe will contribute to the economy of the Hilltop area. It will serve amazing sandwiches, wrap and platters all year round. We have a seating area for families to eat here. We are also prepared to cater, too!

ISNA Convention:

Join MY Project USA Team Members at 60th Annual ISNA Convention This Weekend in Chicago

MY Project USA team members, including Founder & Executive Director Zerqa Abid, will be at our booth (No. 1718) during the annual event, which will be held from Sept. 1-4 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center (5555 N. River Rd. Rosemont, IL 60018).

Please stop by and say hello if you're in the Windy City!

Family Platinum Card:

Congrats to Our Latest Monthly Prize Drawing Winner!

Arbay Ahmed Took Home a 32" Philips LCD HD Television

Congratulations to Arbay Ahmed, who took home a 32” Philips HD LCD television set as part of this month’s Family Platinum Card prize drawing!

All Arbay and her family had to do in order to be entered to win the prize drawing was to sign up for our Family Platinum Card. Each month, MY Project USA will select an adult cardholder who will win an awesome prize. 

We are still actively registering low-income MY Project USA clients for our Family Platinum Card. This brand-new initiative is FREE and has several benefits.

Benefits Include:

• 20% off discount at MY Community Cafe and Global Gifts & Thrift
• Monthly prize raffles
• Holiday gifts
• “Fast Pass” (a way to speed up the sign-in process) for MY Project USA events    
• Special “Members Only” event
• And MORE to be announced!

Please visit the Hilltop Youth Empowerment Center (3275 Sullivant Ave. Columbus, OH 43204) to sign up. Our September drawing will be held on Facebook Live on Friday, Sept. 15 at 5 p.m.

Annual Banquet:

New Location, Same Great Event – Banquet Set for Ohio Union 

Save the Date for Saturday, Nov. 4 for Our Ninth Annual Banquet

Join the MY Project USA team on Saturday, Nov. 4 for our ninth annual banquet. It will be held at the Ohio Union (1739 N. High St. Columbus, OH 43210) on the campus of The Ohio State University.

This fundraising event will go toward supporting MY Project USA’s programs that protect and empower youth and families on the westside of Columbus. We will be joined by several elected officials, interfaith and community leaders and – of course – our young people. MY Project USA will also hand out its annual MY Deah’s & Chrys Gee Awards.

More details to come in the coming weeks!

MY Project USA is proud to have become the largest Muslim-led social service organization in Ohio. We continue to have great pride in our partnerships with interfaith and social justice partners. At the banquet, we will celebrate our accomplishments and highlight our hard work in serving the under-served communities in Columbus.

Please join us for this inspiring event. Tell your family and friends!

The proceeds of this dinner:

• Will be used to protect and empower Columbus needy and underserved families.
• Will be used to help new refugees with English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, driving classes and other job training and employment services.
• Will help launch and grow initiatives to address hunger, poverty, family violence, drugs, gangs, human trafficking and many other issues that need our urgent attention.
• Will help train mentors and advocates to work with Columbus youth and families one on one basis.
• Will help initiate and aid more Muslim social services in the partnership with the city of Columbus, local organizations and other agencies in Columbus.

Book your seats now! Registration information to come.

MY Family Pantry:

Volunteers Continue to Make MY Family Pantry a Huge Success

More than 1,800 individuals and more than 500 families were served from Tuesday, Aug. 22-Saturday, Aug. 26 at the Mid-Ohio Market at MY Project USA powered by MY Family Pantry.

Saturday was the busiest day, with 629 men and women getting nutritious food and household items. In total, 1,883 people were served last week. Among these were 501 families, and 82 of those families were visiting MY Family Pantry for the first time. 

The menu this week included broccoli, corn, melons, cereal, baby formula, tomatoes, carrots, berries and more!

Thank you to MY Family Pantry Director Ramy El-Assal and his entire volunteer team from Ohio State (including Michael Abou-Elias, Rahaf Shalash, Noora Rajjoub, Elsa Wani, Stella Aboshahba, Nawal Abdinur and Chai Annamreddi). We also thank all of the volunteers we saw throughout last week. 

We would also like to thank pantry team members Ezatullah Momand and Jajuan Parker for their hard work each and every week. Thanks to these men and women, we are able to distribute fresh produce and groceries to hundreds of individuals in our community each week.

MY Family Pantry:

ABC 6 / FOX 28 Visits MY Family Pantry for Upcoming Hunger Action Month Story

It was a special day Thursday at the Mid-Ohio Market at MY Project USA powered by MY Family Pantry. We had several special guests visiting as part of a Hunger Action Month story being done by ABC 6/Fox 28.

Reporter and anchor Jackie Orozco joined MY Project USA Founder & Executive Director Zerqa Abid, Mid-Ohio Food Collective Director of Programs and Agency Partnerships Kerry McCarthy and MOFC Public Relations Manager Steve Nichol for a tour of the pantry. Abid and McCarthy were interviewed by Orozco for the story, which will be airing later in September.

Thank you to MY Family Pantry team members Ezatullah Momand and Jajuan Parker for their help as well. You might see both of them during the report, too!

Global Gifts & Thrift:

Get That Fall Feeling with Unique Trinkets from Global Gift & Thrift

Have you been to Global Gift & Thrift lately? We have some unique trinkets that are perfect for the upcoming fall season. Don't forget that our store is proud to feature an international, multicultural collection of gifts, artifacts, decorative items, clothing, shoes, household items and more.

All proceeds from the store help finance MY Project USA's programs on the west side of Columbus.

Shop. Donate. Build a Life!

📍Address: 4730 Cemetery Rd. Hilliard, OH 43026 (next to the BMV)

Annual Report: 

Have You Read Our Annual Report Yet? It's 32 Pages of Great Info!

If you have not yet read our latest annual report, click on the image above (or the button below) to download a PDF of the 32-page report. We did our best to put eight years of work in these pages, but that's nowhere near enough to attempt to tell the full story. 

MY Helpline:

Rent & Utilities Support Available at MY Project USA

We have been working very hard in securing grants and building collaboration with other partners to help our clients. Thanks to The Columbus Foundation, United Way of Central Ohio, and IMPACT Community Action, we are still able to help more of our families with their rent and utilities. If you or someone you know needs help, please ask them to contact us at (614) 905-0977 or helpadmin@myprojectusa.org.

MY Deah's Warehouse:

12 Locations In Columbus To Drop Off Donations – Truck Pick-Up Available For Large Donations

You can now drop off your donations of new and gently used clothes, shoes, books, toys and other small non-breakable items in a donation box near you. These locations include: 

• Noor Islamic Cultural Center –  5001 Wilcox Rd. Dublin, OH 43016
• Masjid Nimrah – 4501 Refugee Rd. Columbus, OH 43232
• MAS Youth Center – 4615 Northtowne Blvd. Columbus, OH 43229
• Turkish American Society of Ohio (TASO) – 2885 W. Dublin Granville Rd. Columbus, OH 43235
• Ahlul Bayt Society – 2580 W. Dublin Granville Rd. Columbus, OH 43235
• The First Congregational Church – 444 E. Broad St. Columbus, OH 43215
• MY Deah's Warehouse – 4004 Fondorf Dr. Columbus, OH 43228. (Business Hours Only)
• Global Gifts & Thrift – 4730 Cemetery Rd. Hilliard, OH 43206. (Business Hours Only)
• Heritage Christian Church – 7413 Maxtown Rd. Westerville, OH 43082
• Omar Ibn El-Khattab Masjid – 580 Riverview Dr. Columbus, OH 43202
• The Destiny Center – 1561 Old Leonard Ave. Columbus, OH 43219
• Bethel International United Methodist Church – 1220 Bethel Rd. Columbus, OH 43220

We are looking for more locations. If interested in helping us or have any other questions, please contact us at warehouse@myprojectusa.org.