First and foremost, Ramadan Mubarak. I hope everyone is having a wonderful and blessed month and may Allah (SWT) accept our fast. 

The Lackawanna Islamic Community has been in existence in the Western New York area for more than 50 years to date.  We have established, with the help Allah (SWT), a Masjid that could hold prayer services for over 700 people.  An organization hall was also established in 1959 for the community for large gatherings such as Eid prayers or other services.  An Islamic Weekend School has also been in existence that teaches Islamic/Arabic Studies since 1982. (Masjid Al Huda, www.alhudamasjid.org/aboutus)​

Before I was even born, our Mosque has given to the community all it had to offer and more, for the sake of Allah (SWT). The committee running the Mosque has so many big projects but are always confronted with the one issue, the city's approval. As a youth member of the Lackawanna community, I have realized that the youth need to step up and aid the generations before us to accomplish what they need help with and more, to establish for the generations to come. So, to start with accomplishing these goals and getting involved, I spoke with one of the Mosque committee members and asked if there is a project we can work on this Ramadan to get the ball rolling. He replied by stating that we need the fence that goes around the Mosque and the school replaced as well as the ground leveled and a retaining wall. It has been there ever since they built the Mosque. It's worn out, old and broken into pieces and the land around it is not leveled so the dirt in front of the fence pushes against it as shown in the photos below. There is about 500 feet of fencing that goes around the Mosque. This is only a start. Insha'Allah this will show the power of the youth in our community and what we can accomplish as well as help motivate and gather more people to help with more future projects for the Mosque as well as around the community Insha'Allah.

Now, you may be wondering why $35,000? This is an estimate provided to me from the committee that have called fencing companies to get estimates. The Mosque wants to place a type of fence called SimTek. Not only is it appealing but durable as well so that it will last for the next decade or so Insha'Allah. With this, durability and looks comes with a cost. 

These are photos of what SimTek fencing looks like:

This is an estimate list of the materials needed for only the fence: 

https://sda-fence.com/simtek_ct/pdfdocs/simtek-estimate-fLyr.pdf​

The funds will go 100% to this Project and ONLY this project. It will cover the cost of the fence materials, installation fees, leveling of the grounds, the retaining wall and any other expenses for this project. The fence that goes from Wilkesbarre to Holland will need a retaining wall to hold it up. A retaining wall is like the white two foot wall that goes along side the front part of the fence (shown in picture below). Insha'Allah these funds will be able to complete this project. Once the funds are gathered, they will be immediately used to start the project Insha'Allah. We are looking to have this done before the end of Summer 2018. A paper trail will be available for anyone who requests. Any other questions please feel free to contact me: walkingthetalkfoundation@gmail.com

I am very confident in my community, as well as my brothers and sisters around the world, to help fulfill this project goal. May Allah reward those who give to help repair the House of Allah and bless those who have the intention but cannot. 

Jazakum Allah Khair,

A Youth in Lackawanna 

PS: If anyone wishes to help in future projects contact me through the email provided above. Let's make this community what it's supposed to be. So far it's only me and two others. We really need to get this community back on its feet. There is no other way of putting this.