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Salaam Alaikum, Peace be with you
May is Mental Health Awareness Month.
We keep our bodies fit through good nutrition and exercise, work on our minds through education and focus, and try to do the same spiritually for our souls through living a life of Taqwa. While the ailments of physical health are more visible, spiritual and mental health ailments are rather invisible. Sadly, more often than not, mental health ailments are blamed on a lack of spirituality in faith circles, when in essence the two are as distinct as body and soul. Many Muslims feel the very concept of having a mental health issue is taboo and something that can be fixed by praying and reciting Qur'an. While there is no doubt that in the remembrance of Allah hearts find rest, we must acknowledge that people do suffer from anxieties and stresses that they have a hard time managing and overcoming, and need help with.
At UMF, we pride ourselves on having the first ever Virtual Mosque for Teens, which we have created in collaboration with Teencentral.Net. We bring young and vibrant Muslim counselors to the platform to help teens cope with everything from drugs and alcohol, to abuse and dating. Our Anonymous, Online platform is accessible worldwide and all it takes is creating a fictitious name and your very own password and no one will ever know who you are as you browse through stories of teens struggling and offer to give peer advice as well. UMF's Virtual Mosque is overseen by a Managing Psychologist and monitored by our Muslim Advisory Board made up of Mental Health Counselors, Psychologists and Social Workers. Finally, Muslim teens all over the globe have a safe outlet to share their concerns and problems and get responses within 24 hours. Visit UMF's Virtual Mosque today, and don't forget to leave your shoes by the door!
- United Muslim Foundation
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 This month's UMF Breakfast Club at Rescue Outreach Mission reached more people in need than ever before, with over 100 participants! We had so much fun with face painting, henna, a birthday celebration, a bicycle raffle, a clothing donation table, a dawah table, juice and pastries, PLUS a hot meal. It was such a huge success, but we can only continue to serve so many with the help of our UMF members coming out to serve.
Join the HungerTeam; click here to pick a task. Our next UMF Breakfast Club is on May 17th at 1701 Historic Goldsboro Blvd., Sanford, FL 32771. To RSVP and for more information, click here. We are always looking for donations for this event so feel free to donate anytime. For questions, comments and concerns, please contact jillian@unitedmuslimfoundation.org
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Always on your phone? Love the convenience of your mobile apps?
We do too! UMF invites you to download our app and stay connected! Currently available for Apple users in beta version, our app provides ease in access to all things UMF!
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We'll be at the Imam Ali Conference on May 31st! Stop by and learn about our goals, programs and sign up to volunteer!
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UMF is eager to see all Muslim Services advertised on our website. If you'd like to advertise your business (only $100 monthly) or to join the Guides Discount Card Promo to reach a wide audience let us know!
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One of the things we love to do at UMF is help motivate students to get involved in community service. Those community service hours can be used towards applying for our annual $4,000 scholarship award. As with most scholarships, there are many students qualified to receive the award but few that apply. You just need to be a high school student or college student willing to spend several minutes completing our application online by May 31st. Don't miss this opportunity to be our award winner for 2014! To apply and for more information, click here.
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Thank you UCF MSA for having a canned fruit drive to support UMF's partnership with Midway Elementary! We were honored to be a part of the End of Year Picnic festivities.
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UMF Operations Manager Jillian Pikora and new volunteer Nadia Perez had a great time running our booth at the Association of Pakistani Americans' event. Please check out some of the performances on our vlog by clicking here.
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Moms and Daughters: Building Bonds Before University
Thank you to all of our attendees, volunteers and speakers at the UMF Mother/Daughter: Building Bonds Before University event. It was so amazing to have so many inspiring women in one place! #ilearned lots, and we hope you did too! Please remember to share your #ilearned pics, tag @UMF786 and share this link. Please view our vlog to see clips of the event here.
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Encouraging Children to Read Ahead (ECRA) to Launch Soon!
 As many long-time UMF supporters know, we have partnered with Midway Elementary School and are working to launch our ECRA (Encouraging Children to Read Ahead) program this fall. However, it is going to be difficult to do so without your support! Please help us collect children's books (appropriate for ages 4-12) to donate to Midway Elementary's Library (view the empty shelves pictured for inspiration). Bring the books to UMF events or contact our Operations Manager to arrange a time to donate (she will come to your home to pick-up a donation of 20+ books). To contact her, send an email to jillian@unitedmuslimfoundation.org
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Our UMF Guides have been having a great month. We have had perfect attendance or near-perfect attendance at every meeting. We are so excited for the farm trip coming up this May. Not only have we learned about the animals in the Qur'an, but our recitation skills are becoming, mashaAllah, so wonderful! Click here to take a look.
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UMF supports reading with our ECRA program launching this fall (Encouraging Children to Read Ahead), our book drive for Midway Elementary, and UMF Guides Book Club. With Ramadan quickly approaching, now is a great time for children to support UMF. TD Bank offers a summer reading program where they pay $10 per summer for each child that reads 10 books. Children can read books and donate the money they earn as Sadaqa to UMF! Simply create a FREE child's saving account with a parent/guardian and complete a reading log. For more information, click here.
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TeenCentral Goes Global!
This month, UMF is proud to report that UMF TeenPortal has crossed the globe! We're received our first story on an international platform, written by a young man struggling in Syria. The needs of Muslim teens are universal and UMF is proud to offer a resource that is accessible worldwide! Will you share your story with us? Write us at teencentral.net/religion
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