MY Project USA Annual Banquet:

Join U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar at MY Project USA's Annual Banquet & Awards Ceremony

Tickets on Sale Now for Our Ninth Annual Banquet

Join us at our Ninth Annual Banquet “Narratives of Resilience” on Saturday, Nov. 4th at the Ohio Union (1739 N. High St. Columbus, OH 43210). This is our signature event to benefit MY Project USA’s programs that protect and empower youth and families on the westside of Columbus. 

This year we will be joined by Rep. Ilhan Omar, the first Somali American to serve in the United States Congress, as well as several additional 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.

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.

This event was sold out last year. Please book your seats now using the button below. 

Early Bird Prices (Sale ends Oct. 10):
Child under 10: $25 ǀ Family Childcare: $50 ǀ Student: $50 ǀ Adult: $100 ǀ Table of 10: $900

Regular Prices (Table sales end Oct. 31):
Child under 10: $35 ǀ Family Childcare: $70 ǀ Student: $75 ǀ Adult: $150 ǀ Table of 10: $1,350

At-the-Door Prices (if any seats remain):
Child under 10: $45 ǀ Family Childcare: $85 ǀ Student: $100 ǀ Adult: $175 

We are also looking for sponsors to partner with us on this event. Please contact MY Project USA's Taq Aziz at (614) 306-0366 for more details.

Sponsorship Packages (Price): Diamond ($10,000), Gold ($5,000), Silver ($2,500), Bronze ($1,500) and Crystal ($500).

Education:

MY Project USA's After-School Programming Begins at Pair of Schools

Three More Programs Slated to Start in October

The school year has begun in Central Ohio, and MY Project USA has started several of its after-school programs.

Programming has begun at Starling PK-8 School and West High School, with three more sites slated to begin soon in October at Binns Elementary School, Eakin Elementary School and at the Hilltop Youth Empowerment Center. All the programs are free for qualifying families and are made possible thanks to the support of the Ohio Department of Education, United Way of Central Ohio, the Ingram White Castle Foundation and the Siemer Family Foundation.

MY Project USA would also like to recognize the efforts of Education Manager Jenna Herron, Assistant Education Manager Felix Mijangos and their team of aides and volunteers that work so hard to make these programs successful for the youth people we serve. At Starling, our team also includes Ms. Hayes, Nate Crosby, Jalat Shinwari, Kelli Jacobs, Fadumo Adbulle and lead Stephanie McGivern. At West, our team also includes Megan Stamper and Treniece Rondo.

We look forward to showing more from each of these after-school programs in the coming weeks and months.

Hilltop Tigers:

Fun Reunion Highlights Action-Filled Week for Hilltop Tigers

The fun continued last week for our Hilltop Tigers, highlighted by a reunion with a great friend of our youth soccer program!

The Under-13 Tigers faced the Dublin United Celtics on Thursday. The Celtics are the same program that saw its Under-11 team play the U-11 Tigers in April. During that game, Melissa Bogner – a mother of one of the Dublin players – was so impressed by not only how the Tigers performed on the field but their sportsmanship that she bought our players a postgame meal and later visited the Hilltop Youth Empowerment Center in June with a donation of soccer equipment for our young people in tow.

(Read about the first meeting with the Celtics & Melissa here. Read about her generous donation here.)

During the latest meeting, the Tigers were able to edge the Celtics 3-2 thanks to a late goal by Abu Noor. It was a great evening of soccer, and it was especially nice to reconnect with our friends from the Dublin United Soccer Club.

And, naturally, Melissa graciously provided postgame snacks for both teams.

In other Hilltop Tigers news, the Under-13 squad earned a pair of positive results last weekend. First, the Tigers took a 5-2 victory in Gahanna vs. Sporting Columbus. Later Saturday, the team traveled to Canal Winchester and drew 1-1 against Pride SC.

Finally, Hilltop Tigers coaches Ali Jeylani and Mohamed "Speedy" Ahmed accompanied three of our young Tigers as they participated in the Columbus Crew Pre-Academy's Player Identification (ID) sessions in September at Historic Crew Stadium. Representing our Tigers was Ebdi Noor Faisal Khamis and Abu Noor.

We are always proud to say that the Hilltop Tigers are more than just a youth soccer program. It is a well-established outlet for youth people that helps keep them off the streets and curbs the pipeline to gangs and drugs. The program also stresses education, putting its members on a better path academically.

As always, we’d like to thank the hard-working young men who coach our young people – Ali Jeylani, Mohamed Ahmed, Abdi Idris, Bashir Ahmed, Abdullahi Jeylani, Abdullahi Daud, Sharmarke Abdi & Mukumbira Mukumbira.

Thank you to the Ohio Department of Education, the City of Columbus and the Columbus Youth Foundation for their support of our Hilltop Tigers Soccer Club.

Community Development:

Team Members Connect with Immigrants & Refugees During Westside Neighborhood Fair

MY Project USA team members were on hand Saturday for the Westside Neighborhood Fair at the Westgate Community Center.

The event was a wonderful opportunity for the organization to connect with new Americans, immigrants and refugees. We were one of dozens of organizations to take part, and we thank the event’s hosts for allowing us to participate – the Franklin County Recorder’s Office, CRIS, Help & Hope Community Center, Creating Central Ohio Futures, Franklin County Auditor Michael Stinziano’s Office & the Franklin County Probate Court.

Thank you to MY Project USA Director of Community Outreach Taqdeerullah Aziz and Assistant Director of Community Development Noorullah Shinwari for manning our table and telling attendees more about our organization and our mission!

Our Founder & Executive Director Zerqa Abid also visited the event and connected with several elected officials and community leaders including Rep Ismail Mohamed, Councilmember Emmanuel Remy, Candidate of Columbus City Council Melissa Green and Somali Community Leaders Burhan Ahmed, Kawther Musa and Lull B. Ahmed.

MY Family Pantry:

More Than 2,100 Clients Receive Nutritious Food, Supplies from MY Family Pantry Last Week

The past week was a very busy one at the Mid-Ohio Market at MY Project USA powered by MY Family Pantry. From Tuesday, Sept. 11-Saturday, Sept. 16, we saw more than 2,000 individuals and more than 500 families.

In total, 2,182 people visited the pantry, including 573 families. Among those, 91 families were visiting the pantry for the first time. We are proud to have been able to offer all these clients healthy and nutritious food, as well as household necessities.

The menu this week included apples, infant formula, chickpeas, peanut butter, salad kits, corn and more!

Thank you to all our wonderful team members and volunteers who make the pantry experience run as smoothly as possible for our clients. We thank 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 give a big shout-out to MY Project USA team members Ezatullah Momand and Jajuan Parker, who make the pantry a success each week.

Thanks to their efforts, we distribute fresh produce and groceries to hundreds of individuals in our community weekly.

MY Community Cafe:

We Are Fueling Champions at MY Community Cafe!

Eat Like the Hilltop Tigers & Support Our Young People

Thanks to MY Community Cafe, MY Project USA is able to feed our Hilltop Tigers after practices and games! Help us support the Tigers - and all of MY Project USA's initiatives - by ordering your next meal from MY Community Cafe.

Order. Donate. Feed a Future!

📍Address: 3275 Sullivant Ave. Columbus, OH 43204 (at the Hilltop Youth Empowerment Center)

Global Gifts & Thrift:

Great Deals for a Great Cause! What a Perfect Combo!

All Proceeds from the Store Help Fund MY Project USA

We know you love great deals. You also love to support a good cause!

You can combine both of these with a trip to Global Gift & Thrift in Hilliard, where you can find some unique and perfect gifts for any occasion. If you have not been to Global Gifts & Thrift yet, now is the perfect time!

We proudly offer an international, multicultural collection of gifts, artifacts, decorative items, clothing, shoes, household items and more. We've got a great selection of shoes and bags, and what mother does not love that?!

Each dollar spent at Global Gifts & Thrift helps MY Project USA feed, clothe, employ and empower underprivileged youth and their families, refugees, unemployed and homeless people. It helps us address gang/gun violence and human trafficking. It helps us foster strong girls and women leaders.

Shop. Donate. Build a Life!

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

Family Platinum Card:

Register for Our Family Platinum Card Today!

MY Project USA is still actively registering low-income clients for our new 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” events
• And MORE to be announced!

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

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.