Youth In Action Raise Upwards of $40k

BALTIMORE - Aug. 25, 2018 - PRLog -- The Youth Council and ILIA volunteers hosted a large fundraising Iftar during the month of Ramadan. Despite the heavy rain and tragic flooding that occurred all around the area, including in ILIA's own basement, there was an outstanding number of supporters who came to the event.

The Youth Council is a new initiative started by ILIA in March of 2018 to continue empowering the youth by providing them with internship opportunities and real world experience. The members of the Youth Council are in charge of organizing, planning, and executing their own projects that range from facility renovations at ILIA to setting up a scholarships for college students, and growing the capabilities of the Youth Crisis Line..

On the fundraising night, the Youth Council, the president of ILIA, and some honored guests spoke about the many projects and goals ILIA has for the year, its budget, and the importance of Youth in the community. The community generously donated over $30k on that night and on the nights leading up to it, and although this generosity will help improve the community greatly, there is still lots of work to be done.

Bahaa Harraz, President of the Youth Council shared the vision for the Jude Jawhar Scholarship that ILIA has started in April. The Scholarship supports college students interested in studying nursing and has been inspired by late Jude Jawhar's mother. ILIA's Youth Council has developed two funds for the scholarship. One specifically for students interested in studying at Towson University and another one for any school of nursing. To date one female student has benefited from the scholarship and received her Certified Nursing Associate certification from the State of Maryland and has been able to seek employment. Harraz also explained the importance of the Youth Council and its significance not only to the development of its youth members, but also how the Youth Council represents youth across the larger region and acts as an advocate for their needs.

Omar Tawfik, a project manager of the ILIA Youth Lounge in Baltimore along with his fellow project manager Abdullah Matar, both high school students and members of the ILIA Youth Council shared the vision of a 40 person youth lounge, where teens get together for socialization, education, coaching and fun.

Other Youth Council members who shared various other initiatives were Mohamed Aboulfoutouh, project manager for ILIA's facilities, Yahia Halawa, project manager for technology, Zafir Naseem and Al-Amin Muhammad project managers for ILIA's Youth as Resources grant for a series of youth empowerment workshops, internships and leadership training.

The event concluded by two short presentations by Essam Tawfik, ILIA Board of Director Member and Yasser Nada, Advisor to the Board of Directors.

To learn more or to support our cause, please visit http://www.islamicleadership.org/