The Islamic Community of Tampa (ICT) in Temple Terrace has been providing services to the community for more than half a century. ICT has played an essential role in empowering those in need and helping the disadvantaged.
ICT is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the religious, social and educational needs of the local community. Their services are divided into three categories: feeding the homeless, helping refugees and assisting needy families.
“We prepare five hundred meals every Friday in our cafeteria and we take it [to] downtown Tampa and we distribute it,” Hatim Fariz, the director of the Islamic Community of Tampa, said. “Our youth, our students, our weekend school students and our community children come with us and distribute it to all the homeless people in the vicinity of downtown area.”
In light of current events, ICT is helping to feed people affected by the coronavirus. Volunteers are assigned to assist thousands of local families. When COVID-19 made life even harder for hungry people, ICT initiated a relief program and a donation fund for those who lost their jobs.
Even before the coronavirus turned life upside down, ICT offered many services like financial assistance, weekend school, weekly lectures for families and free programs for refugees.
“It’s not just a mosque where people can come pray and leave, it’s a community center, where we have weekend gatherings for families. They come in, they bring their children,” Fariz said. “We have about 40 acres of land here, with playgrounds, sport facilities, soccer fields, volleyball fields, basketball fields and we have a weekend school for the unfortunate. The weekend school is one of our main programs.”
ICT has assisted hundreds of refugee families create a new life in Temple Terrace and the greater Tampa Bay area. They aid refugee families in establishing themselves for the first three months, and after that, they move on. Every month, ICT deals with about 15 cases where families are short on money and need to pay their bills, in which ICT helps with their utility bills and assists in paying rent.
Among their goals, ICT strives to establish strong relations with members of other faiths based on cooperation, tolerance and mutual understanding in order to serve the respective communities. In addition, they aim to help all individuals in the community to lead a healthy and productive family life that is free from drugs, crime, substance abuse and discrimination.
Today, the Islamic Community of Tampa continues to serve Tampa through dedicated community outreach that encourages trust and understanding with their fellow Tampa residents. ICT promotes that it is open for everyone, no matter what religion, race or gender.
“Everyone, again, is welcomed to this. Muslim, Arab, non-Muslim, we are open for everyone,” Fariz said.
For more information about the Islamic Community of Tampa, visit their website and their Facebook page or email them at ict@ictampa.com.
