Sharing a success story

Assalam alaikum

How fast can you raise $5,127 for needy school children?

With the help of Allah, things can be pretty fast. BUT only if we took
the FIRST STEP.

So, that's why we want to share this success story with you, so you
get motivated to take your first step.

In less than 5 hrs of work over the weekend, three brothers gathered
(two cheerleaders one worker) and finished the first version of
HalfDate.com (a site the pool resources for a specific cause).

With limited publicity, just friends, we are already getting donations
from all over the globe (*) and positive remarks like this.

> "I love the halfdate.com idea, masha'Allah. I wonder
> if Ijtema.net can help at all... I will certainly
> post a link to the site, at the least. "

The idea of HalfDate is not just about money, but pooling diverse
resources (e.g. expertise, word of mouth, micro-donations, grassroots
media,...), all the ingredients of having a tipping point effect, so
in-sha-Allah we can do something for the Ummah.

So how can you help? Just visit the site and post a comment.

http://halfdate.com/2008/02/24/school-textbook-drive/

May Allah reward you.

-LH

PS: Don't forget to post a comment, What's in it for you? Allah knows
best, so just post your comment and you will find out sooner or later.

PPS: We are looking for volunteers for logo, writing stories about it,
or simply spreading the word.

*The donation indicator (Chipin) on the site is not working now, so
you can't see the progress.

This site will be closed

This site will be closed.

Thank you for your support

May Allah reward you




-Last count of visitors: 22,499 :)

LivingHalal in Action: Worship Allah, Not Your Job

Surely, Allah makes things easy if you strive for his sake.

Muslim employees get more time for prayers
Saturday, January 26, 2008
BY MARY WARNER Of The Patriot-News

Somali immigrants who quit work at Arnold Logistics in Hampden Twp. because of a "misunderstanding" are back on the job, with accommodation for their daily prayers, a Muslim advocacy group says.

The warehouse and distribution services company has agreed to provide a 15-minute break for Muslim prayer, according to the Pennsylvania office of the Council on American Islamic Relations.

CAIR said 16 machine operators walked off their jobs on Jan. 9 "after a misunderstanding over a new policy which limited personal breaks for all employees to five minutes."

Madina Hasson of Mechanicsburg, a nurse who volunteers as a community organizer among midstate Somali immigrants, contacted Justin Peyton, director of civil rights for CAIR in Philadelphia.

They met Jan. 11 with Amy Rafferty, human resources director for Arnold Logistics, to explain that five minutes was too short for the daily prayers required of Muslims.

The workers had been unable to make their case because of a "language barrier," Peyton said Friday.

He said Rafferty "graciously listened" and relayed the workers' concerns to senior managers, who offered this week to rehire all 16 and provide them time each day for prayer.

About half the employees returned to Arnold. The rest had found other work, Peyton said.

Efforts to reach Rafferty were unsuccessful Friday.

MARY WARNER: 255-8267 or mwarner@patriot-news.com

This story of LivingHalal in Action is clipped from The Patriot-News.

Is Diet Soda Tayyeb?

February 5, 2008
Symptoms: Metabolic Syndrome Is Tied to Diet Soda
By NICHOLAS BAKALAR
Researchers have found a correlation between drinking diet soda and metabolic syndrome — the collection of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes that include abdominal obesity, high cholesterol and blood glucose levels — and elevated blood pressure.

The scientists gathered dietary information on more than 9,500 men and women ages 45 to 64 and tracked their health for nine years.

Over all, a Western dietary pattern — high intakes of refined grains, fried foods and red meat — was associated with an 18 percent increased risk for metabolic syndrome, while a “prudent” diet dominated by fruits, vegetables, fish and poultry correlated with neither an increased nor a decreased risk.

But the one-third who ate the most fried food increased their risk by 25 percent compared with the one-third who ate the least, and surprisingly, the risk of developing metabolic syndrome was 34 percent higher among those who drank one can of diet soda a day compared with those who drank none.

“This is interesting,” said Lyn M. Steffen, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota and a co-author of the paper, which was posted online in the journal Circulation on Jan. 22. “Why is it happening? Is it some kind of chemical in the diet soda, or something about the behavior of diet soda drinkers?”

Source: New York Times

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