National Arab American Service Day
September 24, 2005

On September 24th, over 500 individuals around the country came together for volunteerism and service. Serving Communities, Connecting People, the National Arab American Service Day motto, truly captured the theme of the event. Through the common goal of community service, Arab Americans and non-Arabs joined together in new partnerships and collaborations.

More important than the number of volunteers, a spirit of service and community engagement was fostered. Volunteers around the country thanked the sponsoring organizations for providing an opportunity for them to give back to the community. Volunteers around the country are already committed to participating next year. A teenager in Detroit represented all volunteers when he asked, "So, what are we going to do for the project next year?"

In Detroit alone, over 250 people from the entire Metro-Detroit area came out to paint lockers at a Detroit Middle School and revitalize the Mexicantown neighborhood. The day began with a rally and breakfast at Clark Park, a local park in Southwest Detroit. The volunteers then separated into their teams for service in Mexicantown and at Phoenix Academy. Many of the volunteers were high school students from Dearborn. In Flint, about 15 volunteers came out to work at a local food bank.

In Chicago, over 40 volunteers with the Arab American Family Services gathered at a local shoe bank to sort and repair shoes being sent to the hurricane victims in the South. Volunteers who were also clients of the organization's programs expressed gratitude at being given an opportunity to serve others. In another Chicago site, the Arab American Action Network cleaned up the grounds of a hospice that is equipped to give comfort and medical care to small children with serious illnesses.

In Anaheim, California, more than 70 volunteers gathered in several locations in Orange County. About 1,475 boxes of food were packed at the Orange County Food Bank, volunteers cleaned up the streets in city of Pico Rivera and helped clean up a local beach.

In San Francisco, community volunteers as well as members from the Network of Arab American Professionals (NAAP) sorted food at a food bank that was being sent to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

In Cleveland, the Arab American Community Center for Economic and Social Services partnered with the Malachi House, a hospice, the African American Women's Wellness Walk, and the Ronald McDonald House, and brought out over 40 volunteers to address health issues in under-served communities. At a particularly heartwarming project, volunteers at the Ohio Youth Advocate Program spent one-on-one time with orphans reading books, playing basketball and doing crafts.

In Orlando, a full truckload of clothing and over $11,000 was raised for the red cross to be sent to the victims of the hurricane.

In Brooklyn, over 50 volunteers participated with The Arab American Association of New York in projects that ran the gamut from a blood drive to park cleanup to sorting food at a food pantry. In addition, the Arab American Family Support Center partnered with the DA's office to clean up Prospect Park. 12 volunteers spread mulch, trimmed hedges and transplanted trees.

In Boston, NAAP had 21 people who went to the Greater Boston Food Bank and sorted food. 3,000 meals were packaged and ready to send to families by the end of the day.

In Philadelphia, 25 volunteers went to a soup kitchen/homeless shelter and served food. The shelter has a training program to teach residents how to get into the catering business, and the Philadelphia Arab American Community Development Corporation taught people how to cook Arabic food. Basic clean-up and planting of the grounds at the shelter was also done.

In Washington DC, the Arab American Institute Foundation, in partnership with NAAP participated in a walk called "Light the Night" to raise funds for leukemia and lymphoma research.

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