With the decades of crisis & conflict continuing in Afghanistan, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced, leaving their homes with nothing. Tens of thousands of displaced families have been arriving on American military bases for the past several weeks.

Specific to New Jersey, more than 11,000 refugees from Afghanistan have arrived at the New Jersey Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, with another 4,000 expected to follow. The refugees have been asked to remain on the bases until their paperwork is processed. The military is taking care of basic needs of food and shelter, but continues to need support beyond the very basics.

As processing time for paperwork can last up to many months, the needs of the refugees on base continues to grow. The Muslim Center of Greater Princeton has initiated four donation drives since the beginning of this crisis. We have been working with partners at Ft.Dix to help identify the most needed items. After the first mass drive in August, the following donation drives have been targeted to provide the most critically needed items.

Our short term goal is to continue to provide basic necessities for the refugees. The long-term goal is to continue to support Afghan refugee families as they settle in our area. To do so we are working very closely with locally-based interfaith resettlement organizations. As they settle, the refugees will need housing, medical, and everyday support beyond the benefits that are being provided to them by the US government, and MCGP will be a critical partner and resource in this regard.

Please donate generously so we can achieve our goal to safeguard these families in the coming year, inshAllah (God-willing).

You can also donate via the MCGP website:

https://www.themuslimcenter.org/donate

*For any checks please write "Afghan Refugees" in the memo line*

If you are in the Central New Jersey area, you can volunteer to sign up here:

https://tinyurl.com/MCGPrefugee

For more information about our cause and efforts, check out the link below in Planet Princeton, a local news outlet:

https://planetprinceton.com/2021/08/27/muslim-center-of-greater-princeton-hosts-clothing-and-supply-drive-for-afghan-refugees-arriving-at-fort-dix/