GOAL: The purpose of "Helping the Needy" is to encourage community members to donate money or goods and/or to volunteer their time to local agencies which provide services for people in need. An additional goal of this campaign is to promote awareness of these charitable efforts.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES:

1. Coordinate clothing drive or food drives - Food and clothing drives are popular during the holidays, but Muslims shouldn't wait until Ramadan to organize one. Coordinating a clothing or food drive can occur at any time of the year and usually involves volunteers publicizing the drive, collecting and sorting through the materials and packing and delivering the items to those in need. Typically, all non-perishable food products such as pasta, rice, canned foods, dried soups, cereal, and snack foods are acceptable. Regarding clothing, coats, mittens, sweaters, etc. are especially important during the winter. For more information on how to organize a food or clothing drive, click here.
   
   
2. Organize volunteers to work at soup kitchens, homeless shelters - Soup kitchens and homeless shelters provide regular hot meals for people who need them. Individually or collectively, volunteers can help out in a variety of ways, such as by either serving dinners to the needy or by paying for cost of one. For more information on how to help, click here.
   
   
3. Get involved in Habitat for Humanity - Habitat for Humanity International is a nonprofit, housing ministry that seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness by building houses for families in need. To date, people of all backgrounds, races and religions have built more than 175,000 houses around the world, providing more than 750,000 people in over three thousand communities with safe, decent, affordable shelter. Through volunteer labor and donations of money and materials, Habitat builds and rehabilitates simple, yet well-constructed houses with the help of the homeowner (partner) families. Habitat houses are sold to partner families at no profit, financed with affordable, no-interest loans. The homeowners' monthly mortgage payments are used to build still more Habitat houses. For more information on how to help, click here.