Protecting & Empowering Youth Has Been A Blessed but Difficult Journey

Tomorrow Will Be A Hard Day - We Must Cut Some Programs or Turn Some Kids Away - TANF Grants Have Drained Our Finances.

Family, 

I am writing these lines to you from my kitchen table. I am tired, depressed and heartbroken to share one of the most difficult news with you. 

Ten years ago, when I decided to repurpose my life to help the children and families in Columbus and around the country, I had a vision, faith in God and trust in my family, you. I am humbled and proud to see the $39 million impact of MY Project USA's work in the past decade. We have served more than 450,000 clients and have passed millions of meals snacks. We have saved thousands of children from drugs, gangs and violence. We have done so much in so many areas that our ten year report itself is going to be a hefty magazine this year. 

I started it with zero dollars in my pocket and no commitment of human resources and we built a village of 500 plus volunteers with two million dollars in revenue this year. All praise is due to God and to the people who joined this effort in different capacities and made it successful. I am grateful to everyone. 

Regardless of all of those achievement and amazing services, our organization is in a serious cash flow crisis right now. We received $1.2 million from ODE in 2022 for two years after school and three summer programs, $150,000 from Franklin County for after school for two years in 2023 and $200,000 from the State Earmark grant for one year in 2023 and it has been approved for another year now. A total of $1.7 million. All of these are TANF grants, which means, we must spend this money and then request a reimbursement. The reimbursement takes any time between 2-6 weeks. By the time it is approved, more payrolls are waiting. This has created the most serious cash flow crises for us and we are drained. 

We are a small nonprofit organization with small resources. We tried to get a line of credit and also a loan against our grants agreement, but none of the banks and funds approved our request. Hence a few of us  board members have been lending the money to the organization since last year and at this point, we just can't do it anymore. The organization currently owes about $300,000 to three board members including myself. This loan has built up over a year as we tried to process the payrolls on time and kept the doors of our organization open for all. These are interest-free loans and board members including myself do not take any salary for our work for the organization. It's a serious hardship for us. 

This situation might have been better if we had the full support of our community. Unfortunately, that's not the case. We have seen a drop of more than $200,000 in our community donations last year and are experiencing the same now. 

Family, 

I am exhausted. My board members are drained. We need help. 

We need your support. We need new board members to help us. We need fundraisers and house parties. We need massive efforts to bail our organization out of this crisis, otherwise we will have to downsize our staff and shut down the programs that are not funded by an active grant. It is unfortunate that while we have a great team and excellent projects in the pipeline, we are talking about layoffs and downsizing.

We will make those decisions in our board meeting tomorrow. I am reaching out to you today. Please respond to me today, if you can help. Show your support. Tell me how you would like to help. Donate. Schedule recurring donations. Help me save this Safe Haven for thousands of children and families who are benefitted by this organization on a weekly basis. Together, we can do more. 

In Solidarity with Youth & Families, 

Zerqa Abid,

Founder, President & Executive Director

$10,000 Needed To Support Family of 6 Yr-Old Gun Violence Victim

Fractured Bone, Wounds & Trauma Will Take Time To Heal

Thank you to everyone who has generously donated to support our dear sister and her traumatized children after the horrific shooting of her (now) 6 year old daughter in Wedgewood a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to you all, we have been able to raise around $5,000! This will go a long way in their journey toward healing as she will be able to support herself and her kids for a while without worrying about needing to work. We were also able to secure her an apartment in a safer neighborhood! We are still collecting donations to reach our overall goal of $15,000 to buy a vehicle big enough for 4 carseats as her current car has several bullet holes now and we are currently using Uber to transport her and her kids. Please donate what you can - every little bit helps! We would also appreciate any help with sourcing a safe and reliable vehicle for our sister. Thank you all for being a part of the most caring and generous village! 

MY Summer Expedition End of Summer Celebration! 

Students Receive Medals and Showcase their Skills!

We celebrated the end of our MY Summer Expedition program with a fun filled ceremony with students, families, friends, faculty and staff! Students were awarded medals for completing the summer program and many parents expressed interest in signing their kids up for next year’s summer camps! Students also provided entertainment with an original song ft the very talented Penial Cromwell with Chase Harlow on drums!

We are so grateful for our amazing MY Project USA team that makes programs like this one not only a reality but a SUCCESS! Students in the MY Summer Expedition program went on field trips to COSI, the Franklin Conservatory, Hocking Hills, Ohio Caverns and more to learn about their environment and the geography of Ohio. They volunteered at a nursing home and learned about leadership and helping others. They learned about nutrition and how to grow and cook healthy meals. They programmed bionic hands and coded robots. They learned about RESPECT - for themselves, for others, and for their surroundings. AND they were provided free hot meals every day through MY Community Cafe! Shoutout to our amazing teachers and partners for providing such a productive summer for our kids! Thank you also to Local Matters and the PAST Foundation for coming out to conduct classes with the kids!

This year’s MY Summer Expedition was funded in part by grants from the Ohio Department of Education and the Franklin County Board of Commissioners.

Please consider donating to help us continue this program and other youth programs and provide hot healthy meals to kids! 

Youth Leaders Stuff and Distribute Backpacks!

Youth leaders from MY Leaders Lab stuffed backpacks with supplies, ensuring each bag is complete with all required supplies, and distributed them to families at the Hilltop Youth Empowerment Center! Thanks to their efforts and your generous donations, these kids will be able to start the school year with everything they need for school! 

Urgent Funding Needed to Continue Free Hot Meals For Kids Program!

MY Project USA provides more than 100 meals per day to students participating in our youth programs. For many students, these are the only healthy meals they eat. We know that food security is vital for protecting youth, because hungry kids are easy prey. At this point in time, we have run out of funds. Please help us continue providing these kids healthy, hot halal meals by donating to our hot meals program. Every dollar helps! 

Upcoming Hilltop Free Clinic Dates! 

Mark your calendars for our upcoming Hilltop Free Clinic dates! 

Full Check-Ups (by appointment only): 9/14

Blood Sugar/Blood Pressure Screenings (walk-ins welcome!): 8/24 & 9/17. We are also planning to host a vision screening on Sept. 17 in partnership with OSU Optometry students.

To make an appointment, contact us at FreeClinic@MYProjectUSA.org or 614-886-7849.

MY Deah's Warehouse:

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

We Are Looking For More Locations

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.

We will collect the items from the bins weekly (or more frequently as needed) and sort them in our warehouse. Once organized, we offer the items for free to clients in the communities we serve. Some items are also sold at Global Gifts & Thrift, a retail location in Hilliard that is based on the Goodwill model. All proceeds of these sales go toward funding our programs.

Our organization will ensure that the area around the bins remains clean. Please contact Nasir Shinwari at (614) 905-0977 with questions or if you are interested in partnering with us. Thank you!