ALEXANDRIA, Virginia – From Afghanistan to Yemen, Islamic Relief services reach across the world. Islamic Relief Worldwide is a non-profit founded in 1984. Its goal is to alleviate famine, disease, and illiteracy worldwide, regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity. Islamic Relief USA (IRUSA) began in 1993 in the United States as an independent organization under the umbrella of Islamic Relief Worldwide. Its headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia connects to offices in over 35 countries.
With the largest number of its donors coming from inside the United States, IRUSA provides emergency aid, long-term relief aid, as well as domestic aid. Emergency relief under IRUSA provides immediate action to incidences of natural disaster, war, or extremely desperate conditions. Long-term relief involves six sectors: health, education, water, food, livelihood and orphan sponsorship.
Following Hurricane Sandy, IRUSA sent its many volunteers to assist with clean up and recovery services. Currently, in Syria, IRUSA is taking action by providing food, water, and basic hygiene necessities to Syrian refugees residing inside and in neighboring countries. IRUSA also operates many long term relief projects in Pakistan. One particular on-going project is providing the tools to build water pumps, storage tanks, and filtration systems that will deliver a sustainable supply of water operated by the local people.
Islamic Relief USA has a group of dedicated volunteers across the country that assist in their local communities in food drives, health clinics, and providing financial services to the underprivileged. The organization emphasizes on its website three simple ways to help serve communities local and abroad: donate, advocate, and participate.
Funds for the organization come from corporate sponsors including Cisco, Microsoft, Pfizer, and many others. Private individual and team donors also contribute to IRUSA. In addition, IRUSA collaborates with other organizations including American Red Cross and CARE International to further efficiency in delivering aid.
Islamic Relief USA provides a portal for American Muslims to donate their obligatory charity, or Zakah, through the organization’s website. Donations through IRUSA can even be specified to a specific project or region, and the organization distributes the Zakah according to Islamic principles for charity.
There are thirteen other Islamic Relief offices in the world that operate similar to the way Islamic Relief USA does. They all identify with the principles of Islamic Relief Worldwide, but operate independently. They are located in Germany, South Africa, and Malaysia.
Islamic Relief USA is one of many non-profits that achieve goals both domestically and internationally, providing relief and hope for millions.
Feature Writer
Source: Islamic Relief USA, Interaction
Photo: Islamic Relief USA