 We now have a presentation of a proclamation for Muslim American appreciation and awareness month I would like to invite Munir Safi and Humira Nawaz with the Muslim Community Center the East Bay to the lectern while I read the proclamation Recognizing August as Muslim American Appreciation and awareness month and then after I read the proclamation You are welcome to offer comments and if you'd like take a photograph with the council. Thank you Whereas enriched by the diversity of its residents the city of Pleasanton takes pride in supporting individual religious freedoms for all and is strengthened by the Contributions made by the many diverse religious and cultural traditions of its residents including those who practice Islam and whereas Alameda County is home to over 90,000 Muslims who make innumerable Contributions to the cultural political and economic fabric and well-being of our city county state and nation and whereas Mosques and local Muslim organizations such as the Muslim Community Center of the East Bay and the Islamic Center of Zahra Stepped in to help the entire community during the pandemic by donating funds distributing food and Sewing masks for front-line workers as well as educating their congregations about social distancing guidelines to keep the community safe And whereas though the Islamic practice of zakat Local Muslim organizations help help give back to the community by providing grocery deliveries and financial assistance to local families organizing quarterly blood drives food drives and backpack drives for schoolchildren as well as many other charitable activities serving individuals and families throughout the community and Now therefore it be it resolved the Pleasanton City Council does hereby proclaim August 2022 as American Muslim appreciation and awareness month to acknowledge the rich history and contribution of American Muslims in our community and may it have a lasting positive impact for our city state and nation Thank you Good evening mayor Carla Brown city council members Thank you so much for honoring our state's designation of August being Muslim appreciation and awareness month This is the seventh year that the state of California has recognized August Muslim awareness month and the fourth year the city of Pleasanton and its city council has given this honor to us Thank you so much for making sure that your residents feel proud to be living in the city and Feeling that they're part of the rich fabric that makes pleasant and so special My name is Humira Nawaz and I'm a resident of Pleasanton for the last 25 years I have actually been an employee of city of Pleasanton for a few years as well I'm representing Muslim community center as you said which is located on Las Desitas Boulevard Which takes great pride in building bridges between the city and the local community as you Very graciously told everybody that we have been supporting through Alameda County Food Bank and through our own community funds food drives and weekly food distributions Along with many other Charities that we support the community. This is our way of giving back and saying. Thank you Muslim Americans have lived and contributed in these communities since this country's founding in very various ways Sadly in the last decade and the half the impact of Islam will be Tobias has been very real and our community has felt it We have heard from our congregation members women wearing their faith on their head in the form of a headscarf In walls and shopping centers hospitals of this Progressive bubble that we live in very of feeling intimidated which we never felt before Our students in a recent study done by Council on American Islamic Relation reports 49% of American Muslim students have experienced bullying and worse 38% of those surveyed the bullying has been done by the teacher In workforce employees and applicants who are Muslims have filed lawsuits against employers and have won them based on religious discrimination At this point, I would like to deviate a little and thank a person in this room Who made a huge impact? For me on the day 9 11 happened was the first day Gingerbread preschool was having back to parent night and my boss at that time Becky Hopkins Suborted a scarf I had walked up to her and said Becky. I don't need to be here today because Emotions are running high and I don't want to make any parents feel uncomfortable Who does dare remember she hugged me and said who met up you belong here It's people like her and experiences like these that give a hope that our children will not have to face these Discriminations and they will be able to conquer The device that we have built over the last few years Once again, thank you so much city council of pleasant and we appreciate Recognizing and giving us this honor We continue to we hope that we will continue to build birch bridges with the city of pleasant and 3.3 presentation of the American Muslim Appreciation Awareness Month Proclamation so the city council we will present the American Muslim Appreciation Awareness Month that we were going to present it earlier Last month, but I know that we wanted to make sure you guys were Included and you guys were able to visit and so We would love to present this Certificate to you and I will read a couple of the the first few sentence Whereas freedom of religion holds distinction as a cherished right and fundamental value Upon which the law and ethics of the United States are based and the city of Dublin takes great pride in supporting individual religions freedoms and strengthened by Contributions of its diverse population including those Americans who practice Islam and the earliest Muslim immigrants most mostly worked on Farms and made significant contributions to early agricultural efforts and approximately 1 million Muslim Americans currently reside in Communities throughout California the highest numbers in the United States and the citizens of the city of Dublin benefit from Muslim religion Education and empowerment organizations that operate within our city and we welcome a mod. Please come forward Good evening and Salaam alaikum I wanted to thank our esteemed city council and I'd love to be able to come here every year and thank you guys For all your support and for your recognizing Muslim community and of Dublin as an integral and welcome part of our larger Dublin community Assemblymember Bill Quirk introduced this resolution in 2016 at a time of great turbulence and uncertainty But Dublin and California have always stood for inclusion and have always been a welcome sanctuary for all We're very happy to be here in 2022 in person with the community here in person to be able to celebrate the recognition of our community Last year at this time the city of Dublin pledged itself to partner with the community of welcoming refugees from Afghanistan In this last year we were able to help hundreds of Afghans relocate to the area and find a home and community here in Dublin And the local surrounding cities Twice every month our local community hosts a bizarre for newly resettled families to receive household goods clothing Backpacks books and more for little to no cost for the Muslim community center that many from Muslims from Dublin attend Muneer Safi the director and Sabine Asif Ali our board member have worked hard in a residence here here in Dublin To constantly have an open door policy at the mosque that makes everyone feel welcome whether it's their first time or they're a regular attendee They've expanded their services to make they eat celebrations family events and regular prayer services multilingual environmentally friendly and disability certified through a partnership with the alameda county food pantry mcc's Sister ominous selflessly runs the food pantry where weekly thousands of pounds of food are given out to hundreds of families From all faiths throughout the tri-valley I was fortunate to be able to volunteer there with my sons to help deliver food on a number of occasions I would like to particularly mention Shazia Kajani and her son Zayan who are residents here of Dublin and were featured in the Dublin patch For their hard work with the refugee bazaar And for raising money to purchase laptops computers so that resettled families can have internet access for school Job hunting and pretty much everything else that we do these days So their hard work is makes us all proud to be Dubliners These stories are just the tip of the iceberg for the ways that our local Muslim community regularly invests in our Dublin community We're taught that civic service is a fundamental tenet of our faith Those who are best at creation those who are most compassionate with creation are the ones who attain An ultimate compassion mercy and closeness to the creator I wanted to highlight these efforts because it's these stories of the human spirit rising above challenges that we all need To sustain us I would also like to thank samina usman and sima brother from the council of american islamic relations who are constantly advocating for civil rights on behalf of all americans and for To particularly mention sima's efforts. She's running for the ds rd local water district And in the upcoming elections kash of kadri who'll be running for a dublin city council It's not just what's good for a few but what about what's good for everyone and most importantly about what's most In for those of us that are most in need that drives them to serve and to serve here in Dublin We're proud of their willingness to serve and look forward to celebrating their elections Muslims and muslim-run community organizations throughout the local area particularly in dublin constantly strive for the greater good There's maristan that's focused on low to no cost mental health services for our local community Along with zakat foundation and our local resident minara rahman who coordinates food distribution throughout Alameda county and Necessities for those most in need. I would also like to highlight Some international organizations that are run out by residents here in dublin I personally work on an international economic development project supported by the united nations development program Not only for its economic impact, but for the international conflict resolution promoting equity environmental sustainability And fair and livable wages for economies across the developing world Muslims in dublin have a strong and global impact that we can all be proud of However, there are many who are focused right here in dublin Samir koreshi who serves not only um to politically organize our communities And advocate for our use of our first amendment rights, but also serves as a chairperson for the dublin senior Centers advisory board and so will be a koreshi who spent many many years working on pfcs and pfso's And on the dublin partners in education And then of course I have to do that my shout out for dpi because they're doing registration right now It's open and i'm going to get a message from rich later that did you mention that so I did my shout out for dpi How much the rich pay you Like them there are many others shazia nomani shaheen parker rabia adil nidda ahmed and more Who work year after year to make dublin students their primary and central concern Participating in these efforts is essential work of being part of a community Last and far from least I want to thank alisa shahab and cave gelani who are two high school students who recently graduated from dhs Alisa was active in the dublin inclusion project And was the president of the muslim students association at dhs and was Gave a powerful speech at dhs's last graduation ceremony Cave was honored as a national merit scholar and started a nonprofit organization called youth coding workshop That organizes high school students to teach their younger counterparts How to code and they've had chapters at every middle school in the area and are expanding to elementary schools as well Their dedication to inclusion and service as young people has propelled from active service in high school to now attending esteem universities Both are an inspiration to students coming up the ranks and to those of us who have already graduated as well These students remind us to be proud of who we are to always respectfully expect To be seen for our muslim identities, but to actively serve all members of our community This is a lesson that I would like to take forward into the next year And to thank you all again for the time and recognition of our muslim community. Thank you very much What Honestly, thank you for for naming all all the individuals that you did because they are part of our community and People like samir and his wife that give up so much of their volunteer time this you know the students at dublin high school and They just want to be able to be part of the community and also show that you know being involved and Making your community even better. And so it's all about all of us patching in and I know during these difficult times You know congressman swal was there Even supervisor howber was doing funding and and bringing in families to be able to help them So I think we just live in a great area where we can all come together And it's the key role players that help but also the community And we just keep doing that over and over again because it's very contagious to keep doing positive things like that I know I want to actually give um council markum a guy A couple minutes to speak because I know that he wanted um, he also wanted to say something last time and and he's Be assumed this afternoon or evening Yeah, uh, so great to see everyone here and I'm glad we were able to do this where the community could come and I wish I could be there first and uh to see you and to be part of the photo, you know, we've been doing this now for Several years. I think it's a great tradition And I love in the in the proclamation how it says towards the end that It is it is appropriate for us to promote awareness of American Muslims in Dublin And across the nation and to extend to them the respect every American deserves And I think that's that's so important that we are reminded of that Um, there there are still there are still challenges Around perceptions and lack of awareness in our country and we should daylight that Like here in Dublin All are welcome and we make concerted efforts To ensure that our residents understand that so thank you for being here tonight and really happy that we are able to to do this I want to echo my colleagues. Thanks. Um But also a talk about, you know, we we highlighted the fact that you named an awful lot of people and the communicate the Contributions that they have made to our community And you mentioned a couple of tiny little things that you do But you glossed over your own contribution to the city of Dublin You don't just work for the food bank and for international and national foundations but you do an awful lot for the city of Dublin and certainly the Koreshi's do and Shazi no money and just so many other people and Samina and everybody else But you do a lot for the city of Dublin as well at Cottonwood Creek and with other Committees at Dublin schools and all of those things And so I just want to make sure that we are all taking a moment to thank you for your Commitment to the city of Dublin and the residents here in Dublin as well as to the greater Muslim community And the greater Tri Valley community and so that needs to be said as well So I'm I'm really pleased that you come every year and you highlight The contributions that the Muslim community as a whole makes to the city of Dublin But the the contribution that you make to the city of Dublin too does not go unnoticed by those of us that live here So thank you very much. Thank you Please come forward and we can Present the the certificate too, but also would love to take a picture Our next proclamation item 6.2 is recognizing the San Ramon Valley Islamic Center and the San Ramon American Muslim community for the contributions of American Muslims to the San Ramon community Is so be a here. I pronounced that right so be it and you brought with you your vice president. Is it is it decent? Okay, and Nadia your that was a tough one to figure out Please join me up here. We have a proclamation for you recognizing the San Ramon Valley Islamic Center and the San Ramon American Muslim community for their contribution to the San Ramon community Where as San Ramon is home to the San Ramon Valley Islamic Center with the dedicated serving and spiritual needs of San Ramon Muslim community and promoting interfaith quality by providing an environment for dialogue education and development And whereas the SRVIC have provided many volunteer services to the San Ramon community Including a non limited to the fall Partnering with the International Refugee Committee to support newly arriving refugees To the Bay Area and help with apartment setup programs That's gotta be a job itself Partying I'm sorry packing and distributing 100,000 pounds of food samples and masks at risk community in the Bay Area To them you are not alone program if partnership with sports life foundation and other Bay Area uh Fostering the SRVIC flow drop the American Red Cross Being one of the largest donors to the conflict cost of food that donated 25 to $30,000 every year In addition to the estimated 150,000 of those ancient to community members in need Maintain a section of highway 680 top bound as part of the adopt the highway program Whereas most homes have been part of the u.s. History from the beginning They have the goodness to the production of wealth and construction of the nation They are also part of the rich history of the civil rights And whereas almost 10,000 Muslims reside in the county and make a notable contribution to the cultural political and economic fabric and well-being of California and the united states Now whereas American Muslims are teachers, lawyers, doctors, social workers, sex workers, services, and business owners among numerous other value professionals as well as e-filters, activists, entrepreneurs, and politicians Now whereas the California State is going to have to recognize the month-long What's going to it? American Muslims are appreciating analogies And whereas it is appropriate to acknowledge and promote Awareness of the new medium of a people's country American Muslims in California And for us to continue to extend it down to respect and congregate every other community Now there are four big results. The city council and the city of San Ramon does hear Michael Clinton It's appreciating the efforts of the San Ramon Valley, the Long Stateness, and the American Muslim community As a contribution to the San Ramon community And for the lasting positive impact they have made Thank you I'm doing it right We want to speak to the cameras that keep going I'll let you hold this and who wants to be the first speaker I'm going to speak with you Thank you Okay, take 40 minutes In the name of Allah most beneficent and most merciful Mayor Hudson council member Thank you for honoring the American Muslims of San Ramon with the proclamation for the recognition of the American Muslim month The San Ramon Valley Islamic Center was set up more than 25 years ago And our members have been a vibrant part of this community At our center we have witnessed generation A generation of American Muslim grew up Go to school work and eventually returning here to grow their families In the past year San Ramon Valley Islamic Center helped blood drive through the American Red Cross As one of the largest donors to the Contra Costa Food Bank during our Ramadan food drive also Our team member our community members are also part of the community highway cleanup program In the last years the San Ramon Valley Islamic Center Together with other community organizations in San Ramon rallied more than a hundred thousand dollars of resources to help The displaced people from Afghanistan We the the center also received a 50,000 grand dollar grant from welcome usa towards our refugee relief effort, which and we were one of the 30 organizations across the whole united states to have received that grant So once again, we thank you for the proclamation and we wish everyone a good evening Did you want to speak now you have to introduce yourself? Well, I just want to say thank you for everything you do in the community and especially and I've been part of some of the food drives and the things we do and particularly during Ramadan when we are not eating As Muslims and being able to distribute that food so appreciate everything you've done in the community and Thank you ladies for serving on the board there Well, I also want to thank you very much for all the work you do and I I know you you do a lot in terms of particularly welcoming People from overseas and your food drives and we thank you very much You know you used to we used to be across the street from you You know our city hall was across the street and and so it was always such a good relationship there We've moved over here, but thankfully we still have a good relationship. So thank you very much for what you do Mark Yeah, thank you very much For all your contributions the sponsorships and the food drives and the In the distribution red cross support. That's all just fantastic You know faith is such an important aspect of our community and and I just want to thank you And the Muslim community for all they've done for their their contributions For our community. Thank you That's kind of gross Thank you. Thanks for all your services. If I remember right, you also provide auto Uh donations right to help the families Is it mca really because when I was looking at my used car donation So one of the things I reviewed and I felt the best place to donate is to mca So I donated my car to mca at that time. So Never much right. So yeah, so thanks. I know the services that you do is fantastic it and especially the interfaith That that plays a key role to keep Our community safe and especially this is definitely important day for me the timing What happened in albuquerque? So that's not acceptable in any community especially in our nation. So it's very sad that these things are happening and it's good that we are recognizing your contributions and You're always welcome to let us know if how we can help you and make it much better. Thank you Yeah along the same thing My neighbor used to be over would always invite me over Uh, I heard actually at one of these meetings like that. He passed away Abid Farooq in a mirror. I know is there ravina And you know, it's just it's one of those things to highlight on what you just heard from shridhar Once you become neighbors Most of the other stuff sort of fades away But then there's that moment that comes up that you know Something just that should not happen I'm amazed right now and you hit on it and I wanted to highlight this How many calls I get about visas coming out of at the can of stand That people are still trying to get out to jik stand or somewhere to get over here And I almost want to tell them why don't you just go to Mexico and walk across the border everybody else is But it's not funny. I mean the these people are trapped there and fear their lives. So I don't know what can be done. We've tried going back through Congressman, uh, we're kind of in between two congressmen right now Um, but I know it's something that just can't stop because there's still a lot of people there That want to get out and that program that you have helping these people get Uh reacquainted into our community or get acquainted into our community is much needed. So I can't thank you enough Uh, any last words you'd like to say or Or Interfaith on program with well, is he gonna give the speech or is it just gonna hide over there? You want to come up and say something? To just make sure that we're all you know here for each other. Yes I'll just say something quick. It's uh, it's an honor being part of this community and uh always come in here always feels Homely, I mean this is a good city that's open minded. It's receptive to All religions and we're really happy to be a part of it. Yes kind of the sum of it. Yes. Thank you so much And please stay with it. There's still a lot of work on those visas on to um proclamation Declaring august 2022 is muslim appreciation and awareness month Uh presented to a manure syphie of the islamic center of livermore and councilmember minnow will read the proclamation It gives me a great pleasure to present this this uh proclamation for muslim appreciation awareness month And I will read it as follows. Unfortunately, I've tried holding this up to zoom and because of the nature of zoom background Um Didn't work so well, but trust me. It's a lovely proclamation and we will be delivering it in person to uh the islamic center shortly This is what it says Whereas the city of livermore has been and continues to be home to people of different national origins immigration or refugee status cultures histories races ethnicities religious affiliations or none Gender identities sexual orientations ages education economic status and physical mental or emotional abilities Our strength is derived from our diversity and inclusiveness from respecting one another From welcoming immigrants and others and from collaborating with one another across our differences and Whereas the city council believes that a city can best stand against bigotry Intolerance and hate Through leading by example and living our shared community values of welcome inclusion and respect And by developing common ground In venues that allow us to talk and work together in service to each other and our community And whereas muslims have been part of the us history from its beginning And have contributed to the production of wealth and the construction of the nation They are also part of the rich history of the civil rights movement Over 90 000 muslims live in alameda county and make innumerable contributions to the cultural political and economic fabric And well-being of our state and our country and Whereas the covet 19 pandemic forced the temporary closure of the islamic center of livermore And other mosques in the tri valley During this time these mosques and community organizations provided online programming And service service sermons with small faith group prayers outside They also answered the call for help by donating funds distributing food and by sewing masks to help those on the front line And they have educated their congregations about social distancing guidelines and practices to keep the community safe Now therefore the city council of the city of livermore proclaims august 2022 as muslim appreciation and awareness month And thanks the members of the islamic center of livermore for their contribution to the city And encourages members of the community to come together to celebrate our diversity That's on behalf of the city council of livermore and the actual proclamation. I'm going to see if I actually can hold it up here Oh, no, if that really doesn't work That will be delivered to uh to the islamic center Um tomorrow or the next day. Thank you so much Hello council Yeah, yes, thank you so much for allowing me to speak. This is minir safi with the muslim community center Uh, good evening mayor and council. Thank you so much for honoring our state's designation of august being muslim appreciation and awareness month Uh, this is the seventh year this designation has happened in california And this is the second year this happened in livermore I can tell you the hundreds of muslim families in livermore and the nearly 15 000 muslims in the tri valley We truly appreciate the livermore city council presenting this proclamation today Uh, so i'm representing the pleasant in muslim community center. We Serve the entire tri valley we're a vibrant regional mosque and we've been on In pleasant for the past 11 years And i'm also joined by colleagues in congregation from the islamic center of livermore They're all they were watching online and probably you're still watching Uh, I just want to quickly say american muslims We've lived and contributed to our community since our country's founding in the last decade and a half The impact of uh islamophobia has been real but despite this we continue to do our blood drives our voting drives Our highway cleanups our weekly food distributions We have an open door policy at our friday services. We serve as a red cross disaster site Host esl classes interfaith events open houses Uh, we're a green mosque special needs friendly mosque So you can hear we're just part and parcel of our community and I can tell you that this recognition Makes a world of difference for your livermore constituents who are muslim So again on behalf of livermore residents center muslim and tri valley residents who are muslim We thank you so much for this proclamation proclamation and this recognition. Thank you Well, thank you for all your do it and thank you, uh, else merman roe for uh, Recognizing that he was still in the audience. So thank you very much