Teens are coming together to send Ramadan cards to every mosque in the U.S.
Get out your safety scissors and crayons —it's time to make greeting cards in the spirit of celebration and inclusion.
In a new campaign called Sincerely, Us, youth social change organization DoSomething.org is encouraging non-Muslim Americans to send cards to mosques during Ramadan. It's an effort to combat Islamophobia, and celebrate the holy month with Muslim neighbors.
Supporters can craft a greeting card and send it to DoSomething.org, and the organization will then send the card to a mosque in the U.S. The goal is to deliver at least one Ramadan card to every single mosque in the country during the holy month.
"Ramadan, an important holiday in Islam, is a celebration of charity, compassion, and mercy — three ideas we all value," DoSomething.org posted in a series of tweets introducing the project. "Let's show support and appreciate by rallying around the things we all believe in."
"We know we can't solve the problem of hate, but we know it is powerful for a generation of young people to show support."
The Sincerely, Us campaign website outlines exactly what people need to do to make a sensitive card that reflects the meaning of Ramadan, including suggestions on what to write to show support. Cards need to be postmarked by June 10 to DoSomething's headquarters to be distributed to mosques across the country.
Ramadan, which began on May 26 and ends on June 24, commemorates the revelation of the Quran, the holy book of Islam. The 30-day period is the Islamic holy month of fasting during which Muslims don't eat or drink from sunrise to sunset.
There were approximately 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide as of 2015. Of those people, about 3.3 million lived in the U.S and observe Ramadan.
DoSomething was especially inspired to take action after the uptick in hate crimes in the past year, and harmful rhetoric around Muslim and immigrant populations in the Trump era. The organization hopes to use the greeting card campaign as a way to advocate for religious freedom and respect of Muslim identity.
"We know we can't solve the problem of hate, but we know it is important and powerful for a generation of young people to show support to our Muslim American neighbors," the organization posted on the campaign page. "That’s why we're activating our members to help send Happy Ramadan cards to every single mosque in country."
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Through the campaign, young people who make a card can enter to win a $3,000 dollar scholarship in exchange for their support. While financially supporting education is always important, especially considering the high cost of higher ed, the raffle slightly clouds the altruism of Sincerely, Us. Supporters, after all, shouldn't need an incentive to support the Muslim community.
But it is making an impact — DoSomething.org supporters have already sent nearly 30,000 cards to mosques around the country. That's a whole lot of love that's long overdue.
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Topics Activism Social Good
Katie Dupere was a Social Good reporter at Mashable from May 2015 to July 2017, covering activism, identities and social impact. Prior to her work with Mashable, Katie penned pieces about queerness, body positivity, sex and relationships for Gurl. She also previously contributed LGBTQ news coverage to PinkNews.
