Islamic Relief USA (IRUSA), based in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) humanitarian agency and member of the Islamic Relief Worldwide group of organizations. IRUSA was founded in California in 1993. In addition to international relief and development initiatives, Islamic Relief USA also sponsors and funds domestic projects ranging from emergency disaster responses to assisting the American homeless population and supporting those who cannot afford basic healthcare.

Activities

IRUSA projects inside the United States include the annual Day of Dignity, when volunteers distribute food, medical care, hygiene kits, blankets, clothing and more to homeless and low-income people across the U.S. In 2005, IRUSA aided the victims of

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

by providing over $2 million in assistance and sending field workers to distribute aid and assess the needs of the victims. Partnering with IRUSA for the

2006 Yogyakarta earthquake The 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake (also known as the Bantul earthquake) occurred at with a moment magnitude of 6.4 and a maximum MSK intensity of VIII (''Damaging'') in the Yogyakarta region of Java, Indonesia. Several factors led to a dispropor ...

that struck Indonesia,

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donated $1.6 million worth of emergency supplies. Islamic Relief USA and

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launched The Islamic Relief USA Fair Trade Project in October 2009. After

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as Superstorm Sandy) was an extremely large and devastating tropical cyclone which ravaged the Caribbean and the coastal Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States in late ...

in 2012, IRUSA staff and volunteers worked at shelters in New Jersey to house displaced residents. In 2011, IRUSA's disaster response team assisted Alabama residents affected by

tornadoes A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

. In 2015, IRUSA gave $50,000 to assist Detroit residents whose water had been turned off due to difficulty paying their bills. Recent international emergency projects include assisting displaced Syrians in Syria and neighboring countries, and assisting refugees arriving in Greece in 2015. In 2016, IRUSA's Disaster Response Team responded to emergencies in the United States including the

Flint water crisis The Flint water crisis was a public health crisis from 2014 to 2019 which involved the drinking water for the city of Flint, Michigan, being contaminated with lead and possibly ''Legionella'' bacteria. In April 2014, during a financial crisis, ...

, Louisiana flooding, and

Hurricane Matthew Hurricane Matthew was a powerful tropical cyclone which caused catastrophic damage and a humanitarian crisis in Haiti, as well as widespread devastation in the southeastern United States. The deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Stan ...

in North Carolina. In 2017, IRUSA assisted in disasters including

Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey was a devastating tropical cyclone that made landfall in Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest tropical cy ...

and the Las Vegas shooting and continued assisting Hurricane Matthew survivors by repairing homes. In 2018, IRUSA announced a partnership with U.S.-based Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) to provide humanitarian aid to refugees in Greece. Recent non-emergency projects IRUSA have implemented or supported in the U.S. include after-school meal programs, a prison re-entry program, food aid on American Indian reservations, and assistance for victims of domestic violence. In 2016, IRUSA supported a United Way program assisting homeless families with children in Roanoke, Virginia. In 2017, IRUSA provided food for schoolchildren during the summer in eight cities nationwide in partnership with the USDA. IRUSA provides food, clothes, blankets and other items along with health-care services on its annual Day of Dignity events across the country and distributes food and toiletries to homeless and low-income Americans on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In 2019, Islamic relief supported flood affected communities in Bahamas, Mali, Sudan, India, and Niger. In 2020, IRUSA responded the COVID-19 crises by assisting more than 5 million beneficiaries domestically and internationally.

Awards

In 2019, IRUSA was named a Top-Rated Nonprofit by Great Nonprofits and was awarded four out of four stars by Charity Navigator.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://irusa.org/ Islamic relief organizations