SE Michigan News, Vol. 8 Iss. 42

Fundraiser at Tawheed Center Farmington Hills

Farmington Hills–Saturday Oct. 7–The Tawheed Center held a successful Ramadan fundraiser this past Saturday in Farmington Hills.

The event was well-attended, with about 200 people present in the main prayer hall and perhaps an additional 300 outside in the women’s prayer area, mingling on the grounds, and in the tents and parking lot outside. The format for the evening was a quick iftar, followed by maghrib prayers, and then an empty-stomach fundraiser in the prayer area before the main meal of the evening at about 8:30 pm. The fundraiser collected about $175,000 in total, according to the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the mosque, Mr. Asim Khan.

Among others who spoke at the fundraiser were Khalid Zafar, the president of the Board of Directors, Asim Khan, the chairman of the Board of Trustees, and Imam Sohel Mangeria, a qualified imam well-trained Islamically in India, hafiz Qur`an and with training in the seven different qira’at.

The board of trustees has ownership of the mosque, while the board of directors conducts the management of the mosque.

The Tawheed Center is a mosque whose congregants are largely from the subcontinent, really one of the many up-and-coming mosques in the Southeast Michigan area. So many congregants come on Fridays that the mosque has been forced to produce two jumu’ah prayer services each week, each of them filled beyond capacity.

The mosque started from a simple two building structure, but has changed immensely in the past year. Mr. Khan explained that the mosque has implemented a four phase project to improve its facilities, the first phase of which was to buy two additional parcels and add additional parking spaces (now there are more than 300) at a cost of about $800,000, the second phase is expected to cost $750,000 and is to build a shell which will house a mezzanine prayer area for women, an expansion of the current prayer hall for men, and a gymnasium and basketball court for young people; the third phase is to build the mezzanine area with its internal guts including drywall and electrical work; and the fourth phase is to finish the gymnasium.

For phase two, the Tawheed Center arranged two fundraisers, one this one that just occurred and the other to occur in April or May. This fundraiser was intended to collect $300,000 and the other the remainder or about $350,000 in the following fundraiser. Mr. Khan remains upbeat about the four-phase project, explaining he and the other mosque officials are hoping at least to have two thirds of the phase 2 money before going forward.

$175,000 is a lot of money, but disappointing compared to the mosque officials’ intended goal. It may have been in part because of the exhaustion of the fundraisers and the audience that the fundraiser was less enthusiastic and somewhat less successful than other fundraisers in Southeast Michigan in recent weeks.

As soon as 8:30 pm came, the hungry congregants queued quickly outside at the tents which housed a delicious meal.

Islamic Relief to hold local “Humanitarian Day” in Detroit and other cities

Detroit—October 14—Islamic Relief, in conjunction with most local mosques, especially Zarinah El-Amin of the Detroit Unity Center, is intending to hold its fifth annual “Humanitarian Day” this coming weekend on October 14th and 15th. In Detroit the event will be held at Cass Park.

ACC Gala and Fundraiser

Detroit—September 30—the Arab American and Chaldean Council (ACC) held a successful 27th annual gala this past weekend at the Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center, attended by over 900 people. The ACC awarded several people, including ACC staff members, prominent local community members, and politicians.

The Emcee of the event was Carolyn Clifford, News Anchor and Health Reporter for WXYZ Channel 7. The keynote address was by Michael Brennan, President & CEO of United Way for Southeast Michigan., who spoke about the importance of partnerships and unity among community organizations.

Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm saluted the ACC honorees and extended sincere gratitude to those who had dedicated their work to building hope and saving lives. “As Governor,” she said, “I want to thank ACC for its emphasis on opportunity and diversity… thank you on behalf of this state that is proud to have tremendous partnerships with organizations like ACC.”

ACC is a not-for-profit human services organization which conducts this annual gala to honor extraordinary individuals, and to serve as its major annual fundraising event.

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