May 11th Fund Raising Dinner raises $400,000 to support Phase II expansion

Jazak Allah to the ISCJ community for attending the Bi-annual fund raising dinner on Saturday, May 11th at Chutney Manor. By the grace of Allah(s) we were able to raise $400,000 to support phase 2 expansion.

Thanks to all the Expansion Funding Group volunteers who made this event possible. Special thanks to volunteers from weekend school, NUI and Social Activities Committee who helped to make this event go smooth. The talent show was encouraging to see, there is so much talent in the community and Preacher Moss comedy show was hilarious. We had fun filled evening.

The event started on time and ended on time. This is a milestone in ISCJ history. May Allah(s) reward everyone who donated and helped to make this event successful.

Faisal Masood
EFG Volunteer

October 6th Fund raising dinner raises approximately $800,000

Jazak Allah to the ISCJ community and others who attended the October 6th annual fund raising dinner and help raised approximately $800,000 for the expansion project.

Inshallah with your donation we will be able to pay for the phase I of the project.

AS always we appreciate the support and we thank all the volunteers and Expansion Funding group who were the main drivers behind this effort.

Please keep us in your Duas and May Allah(s) forgive us our shortcomings.

Peace

Faisal Masood
Expansion Funding Group

Urgent Appeal to raise $800,000 to complete the School Building

As Salam Alai Kum:

URGENT APPEAL TO RAISE $800,000 TO COMPLETE THE SCHOOL BUILDING

While we were still working on constructing a building for our 1200 students (540 full time and 650 weekend school children), our children continued to get education in the existing trailer building and continued to excel. Masha Allah 23 students will graduate from our full time school; 2 will go to Princeton University, 1 to Caltech, 1 to UPenn, 2 to New York University and remaining to Rutgers University.

This is the story of Islamic Society of Central Jersey, a vibrant and dynamic institution for the last 34 years in Central Jersey. For the last 17 years we have operated under trailer and our students have continued to outperform and have been selected in top most colleges. Help us complete Phase I of this project so that we can move our students from trailer to a building.

Be part of our ongoing journey

Can we count on you for a donation of:

$25, $50, $75 or $100

Donate at

http://www.iscj.org

ISCJ Annual Fund Raising Dinner with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and Imam Suhaib Webb

Expansion Funding Group of ISCJ invites you for the annual fund raising dinner to celebrate the opening of New School Building with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and Imam Suhaib Webb

Kids Entertainment by Professional Group (We have hired a professional company”Grandma’s Place” to provide entertainment for kids based on the feedback we received from attendees of previous events)

Choice of Middle Eastern and Pakistani/Indian Food to serve ISCJ community members who belong to various ethnicity

Entertainment By “Voice of Peace” Nasheed group

SPECIAL PRICING FOR ISCJ MEMBERS:

Adult – $50 and Child – $25 (Purchase tickets before July 20th)

Adult – $75 and Child – $35 (Purchase tickets between July 21st and September 8th)

Ticket Price for Non ISCJ Members (Available between July 21st and September 8th)

Adult – $100 and Child – $50

Adult age 12 and above, Child age between 4 and 11

Tickets will be sold only at ISCJ office

For additional information please contact:
fmasood12@yahoo.com
rehman75@hotmail.com

Jazak Allah to the ISCJ Community for helping raise $414,000 at the ISCJ fund raising dinner

Jazak Allah to all those who attended the fundraising dinner on Saturday, December 10th at Ramada Hotel in North Brunswick. By the grace of Allah(s) and your support we raised $414,000 which included Cash, Pledge and Community loan for the expansion project. May Allah(s) reward you all for your generosity and your commitment to build an institution which can face the challenges and help in the development of the Muslim Community.

Thanks to all the volunteers who helped made this program successful. Highlights of the event included expansion project update, video showing the inside of the building, an inspirational speech by Shaikh Monzer Talib and lively performance by Joshua Salam of Native Deen.

Faisal Masood
Expansion Funding Group

Annual ISCJ Fund Raising Dinner on December 10 at Ramada Hotel, North Brunswick

Please support ISCJ expansion project by attending ISCJ Fundraising dinner at Hotel Ramada, North Brunswick on December 10th at 6:00 PM.

Key Note Speaker: Sheikh Monzer Talib

Entertainment by Native Deen

Due to increased demand we have reserved an additional hall for children. Baby Sitting and Children entertainment provided

EFG thanks ISCJ Community for their overwhelming support during Ramadan

Jazak Allah for the support we received during Ramadan from the ISCJ Community. EFG was able to raise $350,000 although short from their target of $400,000. In this economic condition we should be thankful to Allah(s) and the ISCJ members for their support towards the expansion project.

Based on the feedback EFG has summed up overall feedback from the Ramadan campaign and will make every effort to make the services during Ramadan better.

Fundraising during Taraweeh:

–          Overall Taraweeh program was well appreciated by the community. Fundraising and other interruptions during Taraweeh prayers were minimized this year.  ISCJ Taraweeh prayers, first eight rakats, were finishing on time and sometimes early then other masajids. It seems that this improvement was well received by the community. We will Insha’Allah plan to further improve in this area next Ramadan that will include more communication to community, advertisement of program in advance etc.

–          About $350,000 were raised for expansion fund during Ramadan. This does not include fitra, zakat and other types of collection.

Tafseer by Faraz Khan:

–          Alhamdlillah, very good feedback was received from community about Tafseer presentation by Br. Faraz. Similar program should be planned for future Ramadans.

–          Religious Committee should plan the program well in advance to avoid any uncertainties and last minute decisions.

–          It was recommended that the speaker should be planned well in advance.

Imam for Taraweeh:

–          The imam should be given opportunity to hold sessions with community and give presentation during Ramadan. The imam must be able to connect with community with English speaking and communication skills.

–          It was recommended that imam for Taraweeh must be planned and finalized well in advance of Ramadan.

–          ISCJ will maintain a list of speakers to build the relationships with them so that we can invite best of breed speakers to our events.

Baby Sitting During Taraweeh:

–          It was suggested that this program needs better planning and execution.

–          Next year, Insha’Allah there will be more space for this program. 

Eid Festivities Program:

–          This program was Masha’Allah a hit with the community and much appreciated.

–          The program remains to focus on improving ISCJ’s leadership image, PR and community service.

–          The program will be planned for Eid-ul-udha 2011 also.

–          Program coordinator will maintain a list of vendors that can participate in this and other community programs

Faisal Masood
EFG member

ISCJ Fund Raising Dinner on May 14th raises $311,000

Jazak Allah for all the support from the community for participating in May 14th Fund Raising Dinner. Approximately 350 community members attended the fund raising dinner, the event started on time and ended on time, the red carpet at the entrance, the elaborative tent arrangements, the audio, the video, the multimedia presentation, UNCLE EXCEL (all donations coming in were projected on the screen with some pie chart using Microsoft excel),  were all perfect for the event and no glitches were encountered.

The key note speech by Imaam Mubeen and Imam Karim reminded us that giving will not lessen our private chest so give as much as you can for the cause of Allah.

The entertainment program by Baba Ali was very refreshing. After all the money giving during the fund raising, the audience needed some break and breath of fresh air, Baba Ali definitely met audience’s expectations. Now we know why he has 10 Million hits on his videos on You tube.

The feedback was very positive, utmost professionalism was maintained throughout the event, the event was well liked.

It will be unfair if i don’t commend Mujeeb Rehman for leading the coordination of this event and all EFG members for supporting in marketing, logistics and the event day preparation.

May Allah(s) bless all for the generosity and the continued support of the ISCJ community.

I forgot to mention about food, the verdict is; Appetizers were a hit, main course was so!so!

Reported by:

Faisal Masood
EFG member

Fund Raising Dinner on May 14th – Memorable Experience

We promise you a memorable experience on May 14th fund raising dinner. Please join us with your family for a fun filled event and support the expansion project. Highlights of the event include:

1.Comfortable Tent at ISCJ campus

Comedy Show: Baba Ali from Ummah Films and Entertainment.

Children Program: Mad Scientist will entertain the children

Key Note Address By Imam Karim Abu Zaid from Colorado Muslim Society

Registration: 5:30 AM

Program Starts at 6:00 PM

Help Reach 500,000 American Muslims to expand an educational institution

Islamic Society of Central Jersey is a diverse, vibrant and dynamic institution with its roots in Central Jersey for the last 35 years. ISCJ fulltime school Noor- Ul- Imaan School has 526 students and ISCJ weekend school has 640 students.

Some of the accomplishments of full time school and weekend school of ISCJ which we all should be proud of:

• Produced 70 High School graduates, 9 were National Merit commended students
• Average SAT score for last 7 years (Verbal – 618, Math – 639, Writing – 635)
• Average SAT for Class of 2010 which is much higher compared to Princeton High School Students (Verbal – 634, Math – 638, Writing – 638)
• Current class of 2010 includes 4 National Merit Commended Students (Top 3.3% in the Nation) and 1 National Merit semi finalist(Top 1% in the Nation)
• Graduates have been accepted in Columbia, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania – The Huntsman Program, University of Chicago, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University, Rutgers University, Seton Hall and New Jersey Institute of Technology – Albert Dorman Honors College.
• The Weekend School at ISCJ is considered by many the best weekend school in the state and one of the best in the nation.
• The Weekend School offers many exciting competitions every year including Qur’anic Reading Competition and Qur’an Memorization Competition
• Every year 8 to 10 students complete memorization of Qur’an in the Hafidh Program

ISCJ community has embarked on an exciting project to expand the full time school and the weekend school on 17.5 acres of land which ICSJ acquired in the last 35 years of its establishment.

The project once completed would have expanded the footprint of ISCJ by 2 additional entrances and exits, 17 classrooms, auditorium, gymnasium, banquet hall to seat 400, a parking facility for 700 cars, expansion of current mosque to accommodate additional 500. We also intend to provide an upgraded and comprehensive burial preparation, build an office building for halal businesses, and be a model community for Muslims and non Muslims alike.

The planning, design and approval of this project took approximately 12 years, Construction for this exciting project started in June of 2009 and since then we have added two entrances and exits, we have completed all foundation work including sewage, plumbing and electrical, steel frame of 17 classrooms have been raised above the ground.

At this time we are asking you to donate generously. This is an iconic project and demonstrates the ability of a Muslim community to establish an institution which can address the growing needs of Muslims and to uplift and inspire our youth.

Please help expand an institution for Muslims in Central Jersey.

Can we count on you for a donation of:

$25, $50, $75 or $100

We understand that the community you are part of requires your support, that is why we are not asking any big amount. Our objective is to reach 500,000 American Muslims who can donate $25 to $100.

DONATE NOW