MY Project USA's Annual Banquet:

Empowering New Americans: Ezat's Success Story with MY Project USA

Hear More Inspiring Stories at Our Upcoming Annual Banquet

MY Project USA is proud to support new Americans as they assimilate into their new home country. One of those we’ve been proud to help empower is Ezatullah Momand.

Ezat, as he is known by his fellow MY Project USA team members, is a familiar sight to those who have visited the Hilltop Youth Empowerment Center. You can find his smiling face in photos from our MY Family Pantry. In fact, you’ll see it again later in this very newsletter.

At our ninth annual banquet – “Narratives of Resilience” – we will share his story and more stories of resilience. We hope you can join us. Proceeds of this event will fund our programs and help new Americans like Ezat.

Please order your tickets today via the button below.

Are you a business owner looking for a way to help underserved communities in Columbus? Consider becoming a sponsor of our Annual Banquet!

Please contact Taq Aziz at (614) 905-0977 or dir.outreach@myprojectusa.org with any questions.

MY Leaders:

MY Leaders' Girls Engage in Leadership and Wellness at Best Friends Conference

Six young women from our MY Leaders program joined Youth Program Director Katana Mullen and Assistant Youth Program Director Muna Cheik at the Best Friends Conference, which was held Saturday at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

It was a unique and impactful afternoon, one where the attendees focused on the topics of leadership, healthy relationships, safe digital connections and mindfulness/mental health awareness. Thank you to Katana and Muna for accompanying our girls at the conference.

Thank you to the City of Columbus, Ohio Department of Education, ADAMH Board of Franklin County and The Women's Fund of Central Ohio for their support of the MY Leaders initiative.

Education:

Newest After School Program Kicks Off at Hilltop Youth Empowerment Center

MY Project USA aims to empower as many children as possible in the Hilltop, so while we are proud to partner with several schools for our after school programming, our newest location is at the Hilltop Youth Empowerment Center.

Programming kicked off at the youth center in mid-October. The students in attendance are members of our MY Leaders program and/or members of our Hilltop Tigers youth soccer program. These students are ones who do not attend the other schools that feature our after school programs.

The young men and young women work on APEX credit recovery, Khan Academy work as well as homework help. We thank Megan Stamper and Cindra Gunter for leading the program and to Craig Stamper for helping with transportation! We also thank our Hilltop Tigers coaches for helping with registration for our soccer players.

All programs are free for qualifying families and are made possible thanks to the financial support provided by the Ohio Department of Education, United Way of Central Ohio, the Ingram-White Castle Foundation and the Siemer Family Foundation.

MY Reading Warriors:

MY Reading Warriors Starts Its 2023-24 Programming at Eakin Elementary School

Fun, friends and learning were on the agenda in mid-October as MY Reading Warriors kicked off its 2023-24 programming at Eakin Elementary School.

Students participated in ice breakers to get to know each other a little better as programming began. There was also a brief introduction to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) during the first meeting.

Last week, the group met again and learned about DNA. Students learned how DNA is the building block that helps make us who we are. There was even an art activity during the lesson, where students used Twizzlers and gummy bears to create their own DNA structures. Delicious and educational – what a combo!

MY Reading Warriors is an initiative led by young people for young people, a team of college and high school students who plan weekly programs at Eakin to expose youngsters to books, reading, learning and, most importantly, focus on providing an emotionally safe space and mentorship for these students.

MY Reading Warriors serves students on a weekly basis. Our team consists of the following people: Safa Mohamed, Nadine Helmy, Yassmin Ben Haila, Dina Kanaan, Adam Khalifa, Zainah Shaheen and Dahlia Daboul. We thank them so much for all of their hard work!

Family Pantry Card:

Congrats to Our Latest Family Platinum Card Prize Drawing Winner

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

All Rebecca 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 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!

Please visit the Hilltop Youth Empowerment Center (3275 Sullivant Ave. Columbus, OH 43204) to sign up.

MY Family Pantry:

Pantry Volunteers, Staff Offer Lifeline to 652 Families Last Week

From Tuesday, Oct. 17-Saturday, Oct. 21, more than 600 families were served at the Mid-Ohio Market at MY Project USA powered by MY Family Pantry.

A total of 2,480 clients visited the pantry last week, including 652 families. Among those, 145 of those families visited us for the first time. Each client received nutritious food and household necessities.

Thank you to our valued partners at the Mid-Ohio Food Collective and thank you to MY Family Pantry Director Ramy El-Assal and his entire team from Ohio State (Michael Abou-Elias, Rahaf Shalash, Noora Rajjoub, Elsa Wani, Stella Aboshahba, Nawal Abdinur and Chai Annamreddi) and other volunteers for helping on Saturdays. We also want to recognize MY Project USA team members Ezatullah Momand and Jajuan Parker for their efforts in making the pantry a success all week long.

Thanks to their efforts, we distribute fresh produce and groceries to hundreds of individuals in our community weekly. Our pantry is open on Tuesdays (10 a.m.-2 p.m.), Wednesdays (3-7 p.m.), Thursdays (10 a.m.-2 p.m.) and Saturdays (10 a.m.-2 p.m.).

Sponsor a Meal Campaign:

Help Protect At-Risk Children from Danger Through Our 'Sponsor a Meal' Campaign 

We know that hungry children are easy prey, especially in the Hilltop – an urban area on the west side of Columbus that lacks places to buy affordable, high-quality fresh food. A warm meal could give leverage to drug dealers, pimps or any criminal looking to entice a hungry child into committing crimes or trap them in human trafficking. That is why we started food distribution as soon as we embarked on our journey of protecting our youth.

MY Project USA began MY Iftar Kitchen in Ramadan 2015, when we packed hot meals each day in the homes of community members and distributed those meals door-to-door in Wedgewood. A year later, with the help of Sister Dorothy Hassan, we partnered with the Mid-Ohio Food Bank and kicked off the work of MY Family Pantry that Thanksgiving weekend.

Those projects continue, and in March 2023 we added MY Community Cafe – our latest initiative to address food insecurity in the Hilltop. It is a pay-forward cafe with all proceeds going to help MY Project USA feed all children, elderly, homeless and other clients on the west side of Columbus. Located at the Hilltop Youth Empowerment Center at 3275 Sullivant Ave., this cafe serves delicious Middle Eastern & Pakistani sandwiches, wraps, platters and more. 

The hard work to provide an oasis in this food desert continues, but we need your help. Your donations toward our "Sponsor a Meal" campaign will help us continue to protect and empower vulnerable youth.

Order. Donate. Feed a Future!

📍MY Community Cafe Address: 3275 Sullivant Ave. Columbus, OH 43204 

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.