Zakat Foundation of America Joins the National #GivingTuesday Movement to Encourage Spending with a Purpose
Bridgeview, IL (PRWEB) November 22, 2013 -- Zakat Foundation of America (ZF) has joined #GivingTuesday, a groundbreaking effort to focus Americans on charitable giving. The Chicago-based Muslim charity will funnel donations raised on Tuesday, December 3rd, to empowering young refugee women and girls in Kenya.
ZF has set the #GivingTuesday goal of supporting 20 women through to graduation from the Girls Empowerment Program in Kenya. ZF and its partner organization, Heshima Kenya, operate the Girls Empowerment Program, providing formal education, vocational training and business opportunities for young refugee women, aged 13 to 23, most of whom have had little or no previous schooling.
Strategically timed to follow the busiest shopping days of the year, #GivingTuesday will harness the power of social media to create a national focus on holiday giving to counterbalance the Black Friday and Cyber Monday frenzy of holiday shopping. #GivingTuesday will bring together charities, families, businesses and individuals to contribute in focused ways to the causes they support.
“Black Friday and Cyber Monday encourage spending for the self and living disconnected from the world,” said Khalil Demir, ZF executive director. “But #GivingTuesday encourages us to connect with the world around us through meaningful causes and try to make it a better place. This is fundamental to our approach as Muslims and a core value of ZF.”
The #GivingTuesday effort began with a group of friends and partners, led by New York City’s 92nd Street Y, who came together to find ways to promote and celebrate the great American tradition of giving.
“It’s been a privilege to work with remarkable leaders all over the country building a movement around #GivingTuesday,” said Henry Timms, 92Y’s Interim Executive Director. “This initiative has truly been crowd-sourced by some of the smartest and most connected minds among the next generation of philanthropists and entrepreneurs.”
“#GivingTuesday is a counter-narrative to Black Friday and Cyber Monday because it reminds us that the spirit of the holiday giving season should be about community and not just consumerism,” said Kathy Calvin, CEO of the UN Foundation. “The most meaningful gift we can give our children, loved ones, friends and neighbors is the commitment to work together to help build a better world.”
Those who are interested in joining Zakat Foundation of America’s #GivingTuesday initiative can visit zakat.org or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Feras Abdelrahman, Zakat Foundation of America, http://www.zakat.org, +1 7082330555 Ext: 12, [email protected]
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