Ramadan Impact Report 2022 | Islamic Relief Canada

Your Ramadan Donations in Action IMPACT REPORT | 2022

R AMADAN IMPAC T REPOR T 2022

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 02

PART 1

04

PART 2

10

PART 3

20

PART 4

24

PART 5

25

PART 6

26

PART 7

29

PART 8

Introduction Food Packs Zakat

Country Highlights Orphans Eid Gifts Local Initiatives Thank You

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Introduction Who We Are Islamic Relief works in over 40 countries worldwide, providing life-saving humanitarian aid to those in need, and fighting poverty through sustainable development projects.

Inspired by faith, we serve everyone in need regardless of gender, race or religion.

We help impoverished communities access basic services, including education, water, sanitation, and healthcare. Through livelihood projects, skills development and mentorship, we help communities break the cycle of poverty.

Our integrated approach to projects helps transform lives worldwide!

Your Impact This Ramadan By the grace of God and your generous donations, Sadaqa and Zakat, this Ramadan, we are able to continue reaching over 1.2 million people through over 40 projects to help bring relief to those most in need.

You made it a Ramadan with hope, rising to the challenge when crises struck and helping to create unprecedented change both here at home and around the world. From delivering thousands of food packs to empowering families out of poverty, you made it all possible.

Because of you, they feel relief. Every donation you made this Ramadan continues to fill someone’s heart with ease and happiness. Thank you for your continued generosity and care.

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Projects Supported

1.2 million People Reached

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Ramadan Food Distributions Feed the Needy · Zakat al-Fitr · Fidya and Kaffara With your support, we distributed food packs in impoverished communities to provide relief during the blessed month of Ramadan. Through this effort, we also distributed your Zakat al-Fitr, Fidya, and Kaffara payments in the form of food supplies to the poorest of the poor.

What’s Inside a Food Pack?

Depending on the region, each food pack holds around 65 pounds of food on average and is designed to provide the essentials to a family of 5-7 people.

Food items vary according to regional cuisines, and are purchased through local markets to help support local livelihoods, the local economy, and ensure a high quality of products.

Each food pack usually contains:

+ Dates + Lentils + Rice

+ Sugar + Oil + Wheat

65 lbs

family of 5-7

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+ Canned meat and fish

124,620

People Were Sustained This Ramadan Because of You

Afghanistan

17,500 individuals

Bangladesh (Rohingya Refugees)

11,280 individuals

Ethiopia

4,800 individuals

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Lebanon

8,746 individuals

Niger

10,500 individuals

Pakistan

17,824 individuals

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Palestine (Gaza)

12,650 individuals

Somalia

3,000 individuals

South Sudan

5,400 individuals

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Sudan

4,000 individuals

Syria

11,420 individuals

Yemen

17,500 individuals

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Story Highlight

A Ramadan Without Hunger Aisha, 43 years old For some families, Ramadan is no different than the other months of the year. Limited food, going to bed on empty stomachs, and rationing out meals is their daily norm.

This is the reality for Aisha’s family. Residing in Khartoum, Sudan, Aisha is a widowed mother of 5 and the breadwinner of her household. Aisha hopes to earn enough to meet her family’s basic needs by selling candy on the streets. Still, with two of her daughters who are blind, one who has epilepsy and another who has anemia, she finds it very difficult to make ends meet.

Through Islamic Relief’s food pack distributions, Aisha and her family did not have to worry about buying food for a month. Instead, they were able to enjoy eating nutritious meals while allocating their finances to other essential needs such as their children’s medication. Aisha gratefully shared, “Receiving the food packs has made us very happy knowing that none of us will go to sleep hungry.”

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Your Zakat Once you donate your Zakat, Islamic Relief Canada allocates your contribution to our projects on the ground. Your Zakat funds some of our most crucial work with people and communities living in disaster, poverty and conflict zones.

We strive to ensure that your Zakat empowers the individuals and families who receive it, and ultimately contributes to bringing them out of the difficult circumstances they are in.

Our projects take a community-based approach, sourcing essential items from local vendors, creating programs that best serve their needs, and supporting rights-holders to take ownership from start to finish. This ensures we are supporting communities in a dignified and impactful way.

Throughout it all, we work to ensure your donations are not just a simple transaction, but rather a means to uplift and transform.

Your Zakat reaches rights-holders through:

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Our Zakat Distribution Process

Thank you for readily extending your hand to the world's most vulnerable, and making them a part of your community with love and compassion!

Rights-holders Islamic Relief identifies those well below Nisab, working with the poorest of the poor and the most vulnerable.

This includes orphan households, single female-headed households, people with disabilities, and the elderly.

Needs Assessment Our caseworkers, staff and volunteers in our field offices are trained to do a careful needs assessment of each rights-holder. Our teams use a standardized system to collect information, record notes and categorize to determine the support that each individual and family needs.

Collecting Zakat Throughout the year, especially in Ramadan, Islamic Relief Canada collects your Zakat donations to continuously fund projects that assist the poorest of the poor.

How Funds are Used Locally Once Zakat donations are collected, Islamic Relief Canada wires funds to be disbursed to the field offices for immediate distribution and implementation on the ground.

Field offices take into account varying regional cuisines and customs, procuring items through local markets to help support local livelihoods and the local economy while ensuring a high quality of products.

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Your Donations in Action Your Zakat reaches the hands of those who need it most, providing rightsholders with the tools to support themselves and pass it on to the next generation. This means your donations help generations of families access food, medical care, clean water, and education in a dignified manner for years to come.

Your Impact Our work does not end once a rightsholder receives your Zakat donations.

They remain in our system to continue receiving support through projects and funds implemented in the area until they are self-sufficient.

Your Zakat in Action This Ramadan, your Zakat donations were allocated to fund the Zakat-eligible portions of our new projects this year as well as our many ongoing Zakat-eligible projects!

The following 15 projects are a snapshot of an ongoing 54 projects in 2022 which contain Zakat-eligible components.

These projects are providing for the needs of nearly 1 million people worldwide, preserving their dignity and empowering them to build a better life.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, and we look forward to reporting on all Zakat-eligible projects YOU made possible at the end of the year, inshaAllah!

174,920+ People Reached

15+

Projects Supported

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Your Zakat helped here!

Your Zakat helped here!

Your Zakat helped here!

Socio Economic Empowerment for Women

Emergency Nutrition and WASH Response in Dekasoftu

Shelter and Education for Refugee and Host Communities

This project is in response to the effects of ongoing conflict, poverty, and complex disaster in Afghanistan.

It aims to reduce the poverty rates among vulnerable women through livelihood and education development opportunities. Livelihood opportunities include literacy, vocational, and lifeskill training, along with self-help groups to ensure long-term success.

Education is a key component of this project, with an importance placed on the education of girls through community awareness sessions, teacher retention, and the provision of educational material.

To address food insecurity in Ethiopia, our team is providing nutritional supplements and treatment to children and pregnant and lactating women. Additionally, we are training healthcare workers, mothers, and caregivers to identify and treat moderate to severe malnutrition conditions in infant and young children to better serve communities in need.

We are also providing water trucking to drought-affected communities to improve access to safe water, as well as promoting hygiene and sanitation practices.

In Amman, Irbid, and Mafraq, both Syrian refugees and the Jordanian host communities lack adequate shelter, protection, and education.

To meet these needs, Islamic Relief provides cash grants to support rent payments and essential needs, and psychosocial empowerment sessions to raise awareness on child protection and gender-based violence. Beyond protection needs, our programming offers remedial classes in English, Arabic and Mathematics, as well as education kits and cash annuities to improve access to education for both refugees and host communities.

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950

individuals

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15,572 individuals

RIGHTS-HOLDERS

Jordan

RIGHTS-HOLDERS

Ethiopia

RIGHTS-HOLDERS

Afghanistan

8,020 individuals

Myanmar

Your Zakat helped here!

Your Zakat helped here!

Your Zakat helped here!

Relief to DroughtAffected Communities

Multi-sectoral Assistance to Crisis-Hit Lebanon

Socioeconomic Transformation in Rakhine State

Emergency relief efforts in Kenya’s Wajir and Garissa Counties aim to alleviate the immediate needs of drought-affected communities. Our team is providing unconditional cash transfers to help families meet basic needs and 6 water storage tanks to social facilities including hospitals and schools. Select families are also given livestock feed supplements to lactating animals to increase livestock health and thereby economic activity for livelihood sustenance of these communities.

Continuing a more comprehensive socio-economic recovery response for vulnerable families and those affected by the widespread economic crisis, this project supports rightsholders across Beirut, Mount Lebanon, Baalbek El-Hermel and Bekaa.

Efforts include the distribution of food packs, local partnerships to provide education classes to students in grades 1 to 9, psychosocial counseling, and the rehabilitation of existing water supplies to enhance access to safe and equitable water for host and Syrian refugee communities.

The effects of climate change are exacerbating poor socio-economic conditions in rural and marginalized communities in Myanmar. To combat this, Islamic Relief is increasing access to livelihood means, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities, and the ability to cope with conflict, shocks and disaster.

individuals

17,310

individuals

We are working to improve access to a dignified livelihood through skills training and support, to help increase the income and assets of vulnerable households. Additionally, we are increasing access to clean water and awareness on WASH behaviours, by installing safe sanitation points, water storage infrastructure for clean drinking water, and solar home sets and street lights.

RIGHTS-HOLDERS

16,950

RIGHTS-HOLDERS

Lebanon

RIGHTS-HOLDERS

Kenya

10,470 individuals

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Palestine

Your Zakat helped here!

Your Zakat helped here!

Your Zakat helped here!

Earthquake Recovery in Balochistan

Orphan and Widows Empowerment Project Phase 2

Multi-Sectoral Humanitarian Assistance

A 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck the city of Harnai, affecting more than 500 locals and damaging hundreds of homes and facilities. Islamic Relief’s emergency efforts include the construction of over 200 carbon low cost homes and 3 village centres, as well as training local members of the community on shelter construction, environmental awareness, and resilience.

We are working to improve the socioeconomic conditions of widowed families through livelihood support, healthcare, psychosocial support, education, and social empowerment in Rawalpindi, Islamabad, and Muzaffarabad. Phase 2 provides business grants to widows who graduated from vocational skill training. The poor health status of widows and their families is a significant concern that we mitigate by developing linkages with healthcare service providers to provide free healthcare. In addition, we are granting scholarships on a merit basis to select orphan students for higher education.

In response to the lasting effects of violence in Gaza, we are providing multi-sectoral support in the form of cash assistance, livelihood and rehabilitation. Multi-purpose cash grants support the purchase of each family’s essential needs. At the same time, 25 struggling micro-businesses are being provided livelihood support through training sessions and grants.

This targeted support helps restore the businesses and enables them to withstand further economic shocks.

Additionally, our rehabilitation efforts in Gaza include improving 110 WASH facilities to enhance access to clean water.

2,379

RIGHTS-HOLDERS

individuals

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21,820 individuals

RIGHTS-HOLDERS

Pakistan

RIGHTS-HOLDERS

Pakistan

1,600

individuals

Somalia

Sri Lanka

Your Zakat helped here!

Your Zakat helped here!

Your Zakat helped here!

Water and Emergency Shelter Assistance in Surigao

Emergency Food Support

Improving Student Retention Through Multi-sectoral Support

Typhoon Odette struck 8 provinces and brought torrential rains, violent winds and landslides, displacing 3.2 million people in its aftermath. Our emergency efforts include providing shelter repair kits, essential supplies, and WASH support to impacted households in Surigao’s hard-to-reach areas: Lipata and San Roque villages.

When disaster strikes, every second counts. That’s why Islamic Relief is providing immediate, emergency food assistance to drought-affected internally displaced people in the Baidoa and Baardheere districts.

The most vulnerable and severely impacted households are receiving food packs that consist of 25 kg of rice, white flour and sugar each, in addition to 5 litres of oil and 2 kg of porridge.

This way, internally displaced families have the means to find relief in the face of disaster.

Covid-19, the country’s economic crisis, and long commutes impact many students’ ability to go to school and remain engaged in their education throughout the school year. As part of our Covid-19 recovery framework and following the Catch up Education model, this project aims to enhance learning environments and ensure access to education for young students in the Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Hambantota, Batticaloa, and Ampara districts.

5,000 individuals

6,000 individuals

Our team is rehabilitating water and sanitation facilities, libraries, gyms and laboratories to improve the learning environment for students at 10 preschools and 10 secondary schools. We are also combatting key social, economic and protection concerns by providing food packs and bicycles to students who commute long distances to their schools.

RIGHTS-HOLDERS

RIGHTS-HOLDERS

Jerry cans provide thousands of vulnerable households with the means to safely store potable water, resolving concerns of water storage while combating the potential spread of diarrhoeal and other WASHrelated diseases. For families whose houses were damaged, our team is distributing construction materials, tools and sleeping items to support the quick repair of their homes.

RIGHTS-HOLDERS

Philippines

10,000 individuals

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Yemen

Your Zakat helped here!

Your Zakat helped here!

Your Zakat helped here!

Emergency Health & Protection in Idlib and Aleppo

Family Sponsorship in Northern Syria

Emergency WASH, Food Security and Livelihood in Al Dhale’e and Dhamar

This project provides emergency healthcare support in Northwest Syria amidst the ongoing conflict.

We provide essential medicine and supplies, referral services support, and counselling and awarenessraising on breastfeeding and maternal nutrition. Our team distributes baby milk, formula, and newborn and dignity kits to women and girls through health facilities while providing healthcare staff with training to help prevent and respond to gender-based violence. To ensure inclusivity, health facilities have undergone rehabilitation considering privacy and dignity.

Many families in Syria struggle to survive without adequate shelter and limited means to pay for food, healthcare, or an education for their children. Your donation provides a lifeline to a large orphaned or vulnerable family through monthly sponsorships. Funds are allocated directly to the head of the family, who uses them to support their family’s needs and take ownership of their lives. This means families can meet their basic needs and attain educational milestones, health support and livelihood opportunities.

Our efforts focus on improving access to clean water, hygiene and environmental awareness, food security, and sustaining livelihoods through employment opportunities. We are rehabilitating 4 water systems by upgrading them to be solar-powered, extending the water piping system, and providing adequate privacy and lighting in water stations. Hygiene kits that include chlorine tablets, soap bars for hand washing, washing powder and water containers are also being distributed.

94,510

500

individuals

In order to meet food and essential living needs, Islamic Relief is providing unconditional cash assistance to internally displaced persons and host communities. Families are also being granted cash-for-work opportunities to repair community assets such as ponds, rural roads and harvesting tanks.

RIGHTS-HOLDERS

individuals

RIGHTS-HOLDERS

Syria

RIGHTS-HOLDERS

Syria

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35,868 individuals

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Reaching Those Most In Need Your donations in action this Ramadan When floods strike vulnerable communities, fires rip through markets or the threat of famine leaves families starving, Islamic Relief is on the ground responding immediately.

Throughout Ramadan, we were able to respond to numerous emergencies around the world and continue our ongoing efforts to provide long-term sustainable and community oriented solutions.

We employ an integrated approach in our emergency response and development work, and that is why we design our projects to combine multiple sectors: food, education, health, livelihood, protection, shelter and water, sanitation, and hygiene.

This ensures both an amplified impact and sustainable change.

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Afghanistan Afghanistan has been ravaged by conflict and political insecurity for decades, which has left millions of people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. Growing poverty and increasing food prices further exacerbate the food insecurity that has left 95% of the country hungry. Our emergency response improves food security in disaster and conflictaffected communities within the Nangarhar, Balkh, Herat, and Kandahar provinces by providing food packages containing household staples.

RIGHTS-HOLDERS

Additionally, we are supporting thousands of vulnerable displaced people, returnees and host communities, and impoverished women through protection, livelihood, and water, sanitation and hygiene projects. Efforts include installing clean water systems and latrines, distributing hygiene kits, addressing child protection, and providing vocational training.

68,420 individuals

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Ongoing Projects

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Palestine

Somalia

In the face of violence, economic instability, and heightened food and livelihood insecurity, Islamic Relief is providing immediate assistance to Palestinians in need. Through our donation matching campaign, your impact was nearly doubled and is helping us to reach more children, women and the elderly suffering from hunger, poverty, trauma, and loss.

Climate change has devastated Somalia, leaving in its path deadly droughts, intense flooding, and major water shortages. Destroyed infrastructure and livelihoods are left in the aftermath, further compounded by rising food insecurity. In Somalia, Islamic Relief provides sustainable recovery responses, most notably water, protection, and livelihood support.

RIGHTS-HOLDERS

With the aim of strengthening social support and resilience, orphans and vulnerable youth are receiving psychosocial support, social development mentorship, employment opportunities at local health rehabilitation service providers, and school kits to enhance their education, through family empowerment and community-driven recovery models.

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89,499 individuals

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Ongoing Projects

To address a number of cross-cutting issues, we are distributing cash transfers to drought-affected communities in Togdheer, food packs to internally displaced families in Baidoa and Baardheere, and supporting health facilities and schools in Balaad, Beledweyne and Banadir.

In response to the Hargeisa market fire in Somaliland, our team is supporting vulnerable orphan families whose livelihoods were devastated by the fire. Efforts to increase their income and resilience include the distribution of cash grants to re-establish their businesses, business management and health education training, psychosocial support, as well as the formation of village saving and loan association groups.

RIGHTS-HOLDERS

We are distributing tailored support including food and hygiene vouchers to crisis-affected families, providing medical support to 7 health facilities, and delivering olive tree seedlings to farmers, alongside year-round shelter rehabilitation, livelihood and protection projects.

147,450 individuals

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Ongoing Projects

Yemen Famine, armed conflict, displacement, political instability, disease, and economic decline have left 24 million people in need of humanitarian aid across Yemen. Our work includes distributing food baskets and hygiene kits, and providing employment opportunities through cash for work to rehabilitate and protect community assets.

We are also rehabilitating multiple water systems across Sana’a, Amran, Al Dhale’e and Dhamar governorates.

This consists of installing new solar-powered water pumps, training a committee of locals who can take over management of these sources, performing routine water quality testing and distributing chlorine tablets.

RIGHTS-HOLDERS

To address healthcare needs, we are supporting health centers and 4 hospitals, as well as making healthcare accessible to pregnant women and malnourished children in Hodeida through targeted supplementary feeding programs.

400,448 individuals

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Orphan Sponsorship Your kindness transforms lives With your support, our Orphan Sponsorship Program has helped transform countless lives, families, and communities around the world. In Ramadan, you sponsored over 2,275 orphans. Today, this number is 22,285 Alhamdulillah!

Your sponsorships protect the wellbeing, safety, health, education and social environments of orphans. We work hard to ensure the well being of the children in our care. Our field officers conduct yearly assessments, in addition to periodic check-ins to ensure the children are safe and looked after.

This allows them to be individually supported, improves family stability and helps sustainable development for the entire community. It’s your generosity that helps fill the gap in their lives. You’ve shown them that they are not alone.

This Ramadan

2,275

Orphans Were Sponsored Because of You

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Yemen

Sharing the Joy of Eid with Children in Need

Somalia RIGHTS-HOLDERS

625

children

833

children

Lebanon RIGHTS-HOLDERS

Thank you for helping spread the joy of Eid to 3,003 children and letting them know that someone is thinking of them.

875

children

Palestine (Gaza) RIGHTS-HOLDERS

Here at home in Canada, we delivered new toys on Eid to over a hundred vulnerable children and youth in your communities.

500

children

Canada RIGHTS-HOLDERS

Your kindness gifted smiles to orphans and vulnerable children on Eid day through new clothes and shoes. These gifts full of joy were distributed across Yemen, Somalia, Lebanon and Palestine!

RIGHTS-HOLDERS

Eid Gift Distribution

170

children R AMADAN IMPAC T REPOR T 2022

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In Your Community From Coast to Coast Grand Iftaars From Surrey to Edmonton to Montreal, you joined us to help raise funds for Ramadan Food Baskets, Yemen and Palestine, as well as sponsor thousands of orphans worldwide.

We hosted 14 Grand Iftaars across Canada, and celebrated the power of community alongside our special guests: Ustadh AbdelRahman Murphy, Ustadha Ieasha Prime, Ustadh Mustafa Briggs, Sheikh Majed Mahmoud and so many more inspiring changemakers. We appreciate seeing our community come together to give back during the blessed nights of Ramadan.

Impact of Total Raised Per Cause:

Orphan Sponsorship 2,275 orphans Ramadan Food Baskets 438 families 26

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Yemen 16,333 individuals

Palestine 23,833 individuals

Cupcakes for Yemen This Ramadan we made a national impact with our beloved cupcakes for change campaign! Across 40 cities in Canada we delivered 1,019 boxes of cupcakes, and over 6,096 cupcakes in total! Thank you for your sweet tooth, as your generosity touches the lives of countless families in need across Yemen.

470 Families Supported in Yemen

Volunteer Efforts Throughout the year and especially during Ramadan, Islamic Relief Canada takes on a community-driven model to support diverse communities across Canada. We provide warm meals to the unhoused, seniors and low income families, as well as fundraise and assemble food baskets with staple food items to ensure vulnerable people can enjoy healthy, balanced meals during Ramadan.

With the help of 293 volunteers and partner organizations such as Ask Foundation, Muslim Welfare Canada and Feed The 6ix, we were able to distribute 940 warm meals, 240 breakfasts and 780 food boxes!

5,650 Canadians Were Fed this Ramadan

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Gifts for the Incarcerated We know of Ramadan as a time of community and blessings.

But this isn’t necessarily the case for incarcerated Muslims whose ability to fast is impacted by poor living conditions, harsh treatment, and inadequate services in correctional facilities. To make it a Ramadan with community, we partnered with Muslim chaplains to distribute wellness kits which included a Quran, prayer mat, miswak, tasbeeh and dates.

100 Muslim Brothers Felt the Love of Community

Kids Fight Famine We called on our community of mini-changemakers and you truly answered the call! You brought together your friends, family and classmates to raise funds and awareness for the famine in Yemen and food insecurity in Afghanistan.

Never underestimate the abilities of a child, because we had a total of 33 campaigns and 676 supporters that raised over $68,800!

Here is a snapshot of the top 3 community pages who came together to make a huge difference: Lakhani Family + $15,700 Raised + 262 Families Supported in Afghanistan

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Calgary Islamic School’s Class 5C + $15,669 Raised + 260 Families Supported in Yemen

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EZ to Fight Famine + $9,000 Raised + 149 Families Supported in Yemen

Thank You! Thank you for your continued support and kindness for the world’s most vulnerable. Because of you, 1.2 million people felt relief this Ramadan.

Your support is so often the gift of life itself and we take special care to reach those who are most at risk. We’ve seen with our own eyes how their lives have been uplifted and transformed by what you give.

We could not have done it without you, thank you.

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3501 Mainway Burlington, ON L7M 1A9 www.islamicrelief.ca 1-855-377-4673 (HOPE) Registered Charity No. 821896875RR0001

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