ICNA Relief USA Launches Million Dollar “Muslim Response to Hurricane Sandy Survivors

JAMAICA, New York - More than 8 million people have been affected by Hurricane Sandy and approximately 300,000 of them are Muslims. Approximately, 150,000 Muslims, who live in the areas affected, have moderate to severe damage. There are 26 Masajid and 5 Muslim schools that have been identified with mild to severe damage. ICNA Relief USA (Islamic Circle of North America) has set up “Muslim Response to Hurricane Sandy Survivors”. This plan would cost more than a million dollars and ICNA Relief has established the “MRTS FUND” for this purpose. Speaking to volunteers on this occasion, Executive Director Maqsood Ahmad said that our donor community is very caring and generous and will support ICNA Relief in its efforts to help fellow citizens, Muslims and Non-Muslims alike, in this testing time.

Three broad areas of service have been identified in this regard:

Immediate Needs

Food and Clothing

Cleanup and Repair

Individual crew teams each consisting of case managers, fully trained to handle necessary paperwork, plan and execute repair /cleanup work, at least one skilled volunteer per team, who can handle power tools, and at least three able bodied volunteers to assist.

Rented/owned vehicle to transport volunteers and equipment. Equipment would include generator, pressure washer, chain saw, and safety equipment such as helmets, goggles, gloves, etc.

Necessary Insurance coverage for the vehicle, volunteers and other liabilities.

Case Management

In Federally declared disasters, several types of funding are available for house repair, business loss, job placement, educational support, emotional and spiritual care, etc. However, the paperwork in such cases is very intensive and time consuming. Over all the red tape and complications make it very difficult for the average person to navigate.

ICNA Relief USA has developed specialized expertise in this field. ICNA Relief USA is recognized as the leading national Muslim organization which partnered with CCUS and LSSDR in two federally funded Disaster Case Management Projects i.e., National Recovery Consortium (NRC) in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav in Louisiana and Recovery for Ike Survivors Enterprise (RISE) in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike in Texas.