A Letter from Our Founder & Executive Director:

Thank You for Your Generosity & Support During Our Ninth Year!

We Humbly Ask for Your Continued Support as We Highlight Three Important Campaigns – Please Consider Us as You Make Your End-of-Year Donations!

Family,

As we say goodbye to 2023, all of us at MY Project USA wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for your continued generosity and support of our mission. This organization has grown so much from its humble beginnings in 2014. As you well know, back then I had no financial backing, no office, and little-to-no support from anyone other than my family and a few kind friends.

How things have changed in these nine years! What an impressive village we have built together!

I started this organization to protect and empower children and parents against the dangers of human trafficking, drugs, and violence, with the Hilltop area of Columbus being our pilot neighborhood. The impact our organization has had on the Hilltop is monumental. As we’ve written before, MY Project USA has invested $38 million into the community.

It is truly a humbling statistic, but our work is far from over. Last week, we showcased the best of 2023. We hope 2024 will be full of more impactful moments that will improve the lives of the nearly 300,000 clients we have served in our first nine years.

However, we cannot do it without your continued support. Sadly, we have fallen short of our donation targets for 2023. We have been fortunate to secure local and federal grants, but unfortunately grants have their own restrictions and we cannot use them for several much needed expenses including food and other basic needs. We ask that as you consider your end-of-year charitable donations, you aid us in our mission to help keep our young people safe. Help us continue to provide a compelling alternative to guns, gangs, and drugs on the west side of Columbus. Please consider joining our team today.

Below you will find more information our three primary campaigns that we need the public's financial help with as we enter the new year:
    • Financial support for our Women's Empowerment programming
    • Money for our "Sponsor a Meal" campaign
    • Funding for the Issa Jeylani Memorial Recreation Center

May 2024 be a wonderful year for one and all!

In Solidarity with Youth and Families,
Zerqa Abid
Founder & Executive Director

Empower a Girl, Uplift a Community: Support MY Project USA's Women's Empowerment Programming in 2024

We Are Going to Expand Our Efforts After Successful Pilot Program Helped Young Women Build Skills, Confidence

Please click the image above or red button below to listen to a message from MY Project USA Founder & Executive Director Zerqa Abid about our plans for Women's Empowerment programming in the new year.

As you might have seen in a previous newsletter, we were thrilled with the success of our Girls Empowerment Program this fall. Now we hope to expand our efforts to help 20 refugee and immigrant women get the help they need, including ESL classes, driving help, and skills training. 

Please consider donating to help us in aiding these women. You can donate via the button below or by visiting MYProjectUSA.org/donors.

Sponsor a Meal: Feeding Children in Our Programming Helps Keep Them Away from Dangers 

Hungry Children Are Easy Prey for Those Looking to Take Advantage of Our Young People – Providing Food Keeps Them in Our Programming!

Here is a message from MY Project USA team member Bashir Ahmed for our Sponsor a Meal campaign. We know that providing meals and snacks to the young people in our programs helps keep them coming back. Our young people are more likely to avoid the dangers of gangs and human trafficking if we can provide them with food because, as we know, hungry children are easy prey. 

Please visit MYProjectUSA.org/donors to learn more about the Sponsor a Meal campaign and to donate today.

Make a 'Field of Dreams' Real: Donate to Help Us Build the Issa Jeylani Memorial Recreation Center

We Need Help in Paying for the Center and for Keeping the Hilltop Tigers on the Pitch

Listen to this message from Hilltop Tigers coach Ali Jeylani about two things near and dear to his heart - the Hilltop Tigers and the Issa Jeylani Memorial Recreation Center.

MY Project USA has acquired the land for the rec center, as we have noted in a previous newsletter, but we still need the public's support in helping us pay for the loan for the land and for building the center itself. This is a massive project and one that is extremely important to the young people of the Hilltop. 

Please donate if you can. We also need financial support to keep the Hilltop Tigers on the pitch. Visit MYProjectUSA.org/donors to donate today.