DTF Pilot City Project: Muslim American Society

I'm sorry you couldn't join me for a totally enjoyable evening at the new mosque, the Muslim American Society. Imam Ahmed Elkhaldy told me to be there at 6:30, so I arrived at 6:20 to set up all my paperwork. There was a man praying in the prayer room for the longest time. When he was finished, it was 6:30 and I asked him if others would be coming, thinking maybe I had the wrong night as it was just he and I in the building. But no, he said, others would be here tonight about 7.

When he finished praying, he came in and turned on the lights in the room where I was and came over to talk with me. I told him who I was and what I was there for. I asked him where he was from and he said Bangladesh. So naturally I asked if he knew of Mohammed Yunus. Not only did he know OF Dr. Yunus, he had worked with him as a colleague at a university in Bangladesh. Dr. Sultan Ahmed was this gentleman's name. He had come to America three years ago to help raise his twin granddaughters. He handed me a two-page piece he had written about the candidates for President, and I was able to quote from it during my RESULTS presentation. I made a new friend.

We broke fast about 7 with dates and juice. Then we went in for evening prayer. The only Arabic I know is Allah, the word for God, so I was lost, but I prayed silently, thanking God for the opportunity to talk with these kind people about RESULTS.

Dinner was catered from Taste of India. Not too spicy, although I am burping something tonight. Then Imam asked if I was ready to do the presentation and off we went.

I teared up during the telling of my story. I always do. But they accepted me and listened well to the rest of the presentation. Of the 21 adults there, 12 wrote a letter to Senator Grassley thanking him for his fine work on the Child Tax Credit expansion and asking him to hold fast to the $8500 threshold on earned income. I faxed those letters on my way home so they'll be waiting for the Senator when he gets into the office tomorrow. I think he'll be surprised at all the thank you's.

Five people signed up for training. Thanks be to God!!! I had been sweating all day what if no one signed up? We're going to do the training at the mosque once Ramadan is over.

This is a very kind and caring community. They went out of their way to welcome me and make me feel at home. I did wear my Egyptian head scarf -- the long black one that makes me look like a nun. I wore it out of respect, and so that my uncovered head wouldn't be a distraction to anyone, so they could listen and not have to be thinking about who is this woman with her hair uncovered? It kept falling off because it's so long in the back, so I just kept pulling it back onto my head when it would fall too far down. No one seemed to mind. I told them up front I was Episcopalian, so they knew I was a rookie with head scarves.

Oh, and I forgot my shoes. Well, not really forgot them -- I left by a different door than I had come in and I could see my shoes on the rack in the next room but the door was locked. So I'll get them tomorrow. Believe it or not, I do have another pair of flip flops. But I drove home barefoot, which is against the law. But I didn't get caught. And no one at church seemed to notice when I went in barefoot to fax the letters. It was kind of an adventure!

I know your thoughts and prayers were with me. I could feel it. Thank you. Thank you for all you do for the Cedar Rapids RESULTS Group, and to support me as your group leader.

Domestic Call September 25

Today we talked about the Child Tax Credit expansion having passed the Senate two days ago and the importance of communicating with Senator Grassley and the media on keeping the earned income threshold at $8500.

Paul in Minneapolis is looking for a good fundraising project. He thinks herb bread would be good.

Global Call September 24

Allison started the call by reminding us all of what Martin Sheen said at the Emmy's: Decisions are made by the people who show up.

RESULTS volunteers, we are the people who show up with letter after letter, call after call, month in and month out. And we influence the decisions made on Capitol Hill.

The Domestic TB Bill is being blocked by one Senator. RESULTS people in Texas and South Carolina have put on the pressure and now the bill will proceed in the Senate. It has passed out of the House Committee and is ready for debate in the House.

There are three items I'm going to talk to Loebsack's office about tomorrow:
1) The Holt-Carter letter to the World Bank asking that more microcredit money be made available to the very poor;
2) The Yunus Congressional Gold Medal Bill -- the Senate has the required two-thirds votes; the House does not have the votes yet;
3) House Resolution 1268 to Reform the way Foreign Aid is Delivered. The goal is to have 100 cosponsors. There are 40 to date.

If you want to call Loebsack's office, too, ask to talk to Meagan Linn or the Legislative Director, Kara Marchione. The Congressman's Washington number is 202-225-6576. If you call, please drop me an email to let me know you called, what you talked about, and what the response was. (So I can report it to Allison next week.)

Domestic Call September 18

Please call toll-free at 888-245-0215 and ask to talk to Congressman Loebsack's office, Senator Grassley's office and Senator Harkin's office, to urge them to vote for the $8500 earned income threshold on the Child Tax Credit. The vote will be on Friday.

Once upon a time there was a US Navy Captain who commanded a destroyer. One night the captain saw lights ahead on a collision course, so using Morse Code he signaled "To avoid a collision, turn 10 degrees East." Back came a light signal in Morse Code. "To avoid a collision, you should turn your vessel 10 degrees West." The Captain was a bit indignant and signaled back, "I am a US Navy Captain. Turn your vessel." And a light signal came back, "I am a Seaman Second Class. Turn your vessel." Outraged at this insubordination, the Captain signaled, "I command a destroyer. Get out of my way." And a signal came back, "I am a lighthouse. Your call."

Diversity Task Force Call September 17

We were a small, but mighty group tonight. Meredith from DC, Betsy from Miami and myself. Betsy is aligned now with the Global AIDS Alliance, working to recruit new RESULTS members while working for the group.

The survey of grassroots members from the Marketing Committee of the Board will be out on Monday. It includes Diversity Task Force questions.

Meredith asked me to create a blog for the grassroots members to see notes from the DTF calls.

RESULTADAS volunteers in Mexico will be asked if they can help translate RESULTS materials into Spanish.

I'm going to talk to Douglas tomorrow (our Domestic Regional Coordinator and a RESULTS Board member) about the DTF talking with the two new grassroots Board members to be announced in October. In addition, we would like to have all Board members join us on a DTF conference call.

There is a possibility I'll be going to DC in December for a weekend to talk with Regional Coordinators about the DTF.

Domestic Call September 11

The Senate is going to vote again on the Tax Extenders Bill, SR3530, which includes a minimum income threshhold of $8500 for the Child Tax Credit. I'll call Senator Grassley's office this week and talk to Ryan Abrams, Finance Aide, about our concern for the 100,000 Iowa children who will receive the tax credit by lowering the income threshhold.

Douglas was surprised and delighted to hear about our herb bread fundraiser.

Meredith sent an email from Washington about ICAN meetings around the state dealing with the healthcare crisis and need for reform. There is a meeting on Tuesday, September 30 in Cedar Rapids at 6:30 p.m. at 220 Prospect Pl SW. I plan on going. If anyone wants to carpool, let me know.

Global Call September 10

Three items of interest today.

First, House Resolution 1268 on Foreign Aid Reform. RESULTS is hoping for 100 co-sponsors for this resolution which would make US foreign aid more effective and less self-serving. For instance, USAID is required to purchase food in the US and ship it on US vessels rather than purhasing food overseas, which would cost 50 percent less than US food, or shipping on foreign vessels which would significantly reduce delivery costs. So far there are 27 co-sponsors. I will call Congressman Loebsack's office to lobby for him to support this resolution.

Second, the House letter to the World Bank on microcredit. You may have seen news of this long-awaited letter in the RESULTS weekly updates. When I call Loebsack's office on HR 1268 I will also see about him signing the letter.

Finally, fundraising. RESULTS needs about $50,000 to cover shortfalls in income and larger than expected expenses, so groups are asked to do a fall fundraiser. When I told Allison we were working on the marketing phase for herb bread sales, she was delighted. I ordered bread yesterday, which will be delivered Monday afternoon. I also bought butter and it's in the frig at Christ Church. I will be in Monday afternoon to start softening the butter so it's ready to go at 7 when we get together. I'm also going to buy a box of non-latex gloves so we can observe proper food-handling procedures. This is going to be fun!

Coming Up

I had the flu last week, so I didn't get my blogging done. Sorry!

Coming up Saturday are the monthly conference calls. Domestic call at 11:30 a.m. will feature a speaker on the $8,500 minimum threshhold for the Child Tax Credit (I understand). The global call at 1 p.m. will feature the woman who started Jamii Bora, the microcredit institution in Kenya that lends to beggars. I will be there for both calls. Please join me if your schedule permits.

On the 15th, the third Monday, we'll be buttering bread in the Parish Hall (downstairs). An elevator is available. We'll also have an opportunity to talk with Leland about what he's learned from Basics online. With this final training session he will be an official card-carrying member of RESULTS! Welcome, Leland!!!!! I'll also have sign-up sheets for you so you can get people on board to buy herb bread.

The microcredit letter is ready now. I am going to call Congressman Loebsack's office on Tuesday to introduce the letter and ask him to sign it. I plan to use the story Dr. Muhammed Yunus told about the first thing a woman does with proceeds from her microcredit loan, which is not to feed her family better or send her children to school. No, the first thing she does is to buy her children back from forced labor. She had to sell her five-year-old son to a neighbor because she couldn't afford to feed him. But now, with microcredit backing, she can buy his freedom and bring him home.

On Monday of this week I am making follow-up calls to Pastor Offt of Trinity Lutheran, Fr. Pedasky of Immaculate Conception and Rabbi Sherman of Temple Judah to see about setting up informational meetings in their congregations. Please pray for these three men that they are receptive to the RESULTS opportunities for their communities.

Did you happen to see my picture on an op-ed last Sunday? The poverty numbers from the Census Bureau came in and the Gazette published our op-ed. You can read it on the RESULTS page of the Christ Church website -- www.christepiscopal.org/RESULTS.html.