DAAF grant program

The Dayton Arab American Forum (DAAF) has announced the newest program to help give back to our community – the DAAF Community Impact Grant.

The idea for a Community Impact Grant came about after DAAF’s inability to hold the 2020 Hafla in April due to COVID-19. This annual “Hafla”, which means a dinner and dance party, is one of DAAF’s signature events and an opportunity to share Arabic food, dance, culture and music with the community. As the whole country shut down to control the spread of the pandemic, and The Foodbank saw close to 20,000 individuals at their on-site Drive Thru food pantry in the month of April alone, DAAF’s Board of Directors realized that food insecurity was a local cause they wanted to support.

Thanks to a successful Facebook fundraising campaign, coupled with a $1,000 match from DAAF as well as another $1,000 match from an anonymous DAAF member, $4,000 has been donated to The Foodbank, Inc. to support efforts to relieve hunger in our community.

DAAF’s Board of Directors presented the check to the Foodbank on June 18, 2020 at 56 Armor Place in Dayton.

“Thanks to the tremendous interest we received from our members, DAAF plans to continue looking for ways to support local not-for-profit organizations who are supporting our community during hard times,” said Lamees Mubaslat, President of DAAF. “We are so proud of what we were able to raise in such a short amount of time.” SUBMITTED