Annual Fundraiser Banquets
Every year the UMMA Center holds a Fundraising Banquet dinner to raise monetary funds that assist with our operations budget, student’s school supplies, software, equipment, furniture, and many more costs that are included in running a community center. We also use the dinner as a venue to recruit volunteers, teach our current and new donors about our services, and showcase our accomplishments for the year. We hope that each year we bring you valuable and inspiring updates from our clients and our work, encouraging all of us to give back to our community.
Fourth Annual Fundraising Dinner: 2009
UMMA celebrated its first five years of operation with our Fourth Annual Fundraising Dinner entitled: “Speak Always the Truth – The Tough Choice over Values in Our American Muslim Community.” We were joined by community members, supporters, students and friends who all enjoyed Dr. Jonathan A.C Brown’s key note speech. Dr. Brown is currently an Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. Find Dr. Jonathan Brown’s CV here.
The dinner was held at Bristol Court Banquet Halls in Mount Prospect, IL on October 30th, 2009, and was mc’eed by our very own Rob Flot. Rob is UMMA’s Educational Committee Co-Director on the Board of Directors, and is also the Dean of Students at Lake Forest College. Throughout the dinner, we had key people tell their stories. Mary Swire, a student at the center spoke of her transformative experience with our Financial Literacy Classes. Ryan Gayer, computer instructor, spoke about our most successful year in Computer Training class and its importance. The Banquet also presented Ashfaq Mohiuddin, Executive Director, a Service of Excellence Award for his tremendous hard work and dedication to the Center.
The Urban Muslim Minority Alliance (UMMA) Center would like to take this opportunity to thank all of its community members and donors for their support and generosity. Your commitment to helping the 'at-risk' residents of our community is sincerely appreciated. Through our programs: Education Empowerment, Basic Needs, and Community Outreach we have seen many lives changed forever! The goal of the UMMA Center is to continue to make strides in the eradication of poverty through a variety of programs and services. With the help of donations from supporters such as you, we will continue to see improvements for our 'at-risk' community.