Message From Founder & Executive Director:

Your Presence Made It Possible! THANK YOU!!!

Our Village Has Become One of The Largest Sources on Serving Community on The Westside Columbus. We are Grateful for & are Humbled By The Results.

Our Continued Work Will Help Save More Lives and Uplift More Families!

Family, 

As you are getting ready to break bread with your families and loved ones tonight, I want to take a moment to thank you for all you have done for the children, parents and all of our clients over the years. Your support enabled me to keep pushing forward regardless of hurdles and barriers on my way. Your presence brought food on tables, books in bags, fun in lives and smiles on the faces of hundreds of children. With your help I have been able to launch innovative, scalable initiatives that have transformed people's lives once forever. Thank you for being part of our village!

As much as I am grateful of your presence, I am also in awe of the young people that are emerging as leaders and champions because of our programs in a neighborhood that was only known for drugs, gangs, gun and violence.

As an example, I am proud to share this inspiring speech by our soccer coach and emerging leader Bashir Ahmed with you. Bashir is one of many shining stars in the young leaders galaxy created by MY Project USA. He delivered this amazing speech entitles 'What's Resilience?' at our annual banquet earlier this month. His speech earned one of the biggest ovations of the evening.

Not only is Bashir an impressive public speaker, but his story clearly resonates. We are proud of his strength of character and are proud to have him as a coach of our Hilltop Tigers. He is a wonderful role model. So is Ali Jeylani and many other youth and staff at MY Project USA. 

Please take a moment to watch this short video. Share it with your family and send your donations so we can continue investing in these and other amazing young people. Together we can keep protecting and empowering more youth.

In solidarity with youth and families, 

Zerqa Abid

Founder, President & Executive Director

"Resilience to me has been experiencing my first introduction to death at the age of 17. My beautiful baby brother, who I loved so dearly, drowned at the age of 14 years old. Anybody who knows me understands the love I have for my family is greater than any love I have for myself."    ~Coach Bashir Ahmed

Giving Tuesday:

MY Project USA Hopes You Will Consider Aiding Our Mission During Giving Tuesday

Keep an eye on MY Project USA's social media channels to learn more about how your Giving Tuesday donations to our organization will help us continue our ongoing mission to protect and empower young people and families in Columbus.

Food Insecurity:

MY Family Pantry Team Helped Serve 907 Clients Last Saturday

Mid-Ohio Market At MY Project USA Has Served More Than 90,000 Clients so Far In 2023

As families gather for Thanksgiving across the United States, MY Project USA wants to offer its thanks for our squad of partners, team members and volunteers that have allowed the Mid-Ohio Market at MY Project USA powered by MY Family Pantry to serve more than 90,000 clients thus far in 2023.

During the week from Tuesday, Nov. 14-Saturday, Nov. 18, the pantry saw 2,419 individuals and 676 families. That included 907 clients alone on Saturday. That figure was the second-highest one-day total of the year, topped only by the 969 clients we saw on Saturday, April 19 during Ramadan.

We have seen an average of more than 9,000 clients per month in August, September and October. Through last week, the Market has already served 6,361 clients and 1,695 families in November. MY Project USA is proud to partner with the Mid-Ohio Food Collective to serve people here in the Hilltop. The need is large, and we are honored to do our part when the pantry is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

MY Project USA would like to offer its thanks 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 could not serve clients as well as we do without MY Project USA team members Ezatullah Momand and Jajuan Parker.

After-School Programming:

First 'Friendsgiving' a Huge Success after Recent Career Fri-Yays Event at West High School

The latest Career Fri-Yays event at West High School not only featured a fun speaker, but it was also our first annual Friendsgiving!

For those who might not know, Friendsgiving is a Thanksgiving-themed meal/potluck eaten with friends prior to the Thanksgiving holiday. So, after MY Project USA Education Manager Jenna Herron gave a presentation on Youth and Education Administration, those in attendance gathered for a fun meal.

Thank you to MY Project USA team member Treniece Rondo, who came up with the Friendsgiving idea. The meal consisted of shredded barbecue chicken, cheesy broccoli, mashed potatoes and gravy, bread rolls and drinks. It was not only an educational program, but a delicious one!

Kudos to Jenna, who leads MY Project USA’s after-school programming, and to Assistant Education Manager Felix Mijangos, who runs our West Round-Up after-school program. We’d also like to thank the rest of our Round-Up staff: Treniece, Irshad Shinwari and Megan Stamper.

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

After-School Programming:

Substance Safety Highlighted During Visit from Ohio Health Doctor at Binns Elementary School

Our Recharge after-school program at Binns Elementary School had a special visitor last week in Dr. Wang from Ohio Health. 

Dr. Wang was on hand to discuss substances, highlighting the differences between good and bad substances. We thank him for talking to the children and helping them stay safe. 

We would also like to thank our Binns ASP team for all of their hard work: Robin Wilson, Haleigh Wright, Emily Meece, Sahra Ali and Sahara Sheikh. 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.

All after-school 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 and the Ingram-White Castle Foundation.

Hilltop Tigers:

Under-18 Hilltop Tigers Squad Ready for Indoor Tournament This Weekend in Louisville

The Hilltop Tigers are heading south for the Thanksgiving weekend to participate in the International Indoor Cup tournament in Louisville, Ky., from Friday-Sunday.

Our Under-18 team will represent our soccer program at the event, which will feature some great talent from Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Maine. We look forward to a fun weekend of competition, and we'll have plenty of photos to share afterward!

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.

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.

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.