CAIR-Chicago hosted a booth at IMAN's Takin' it to the Streets, Saturday, June 25th. Takin' it to the Streets is a daylong community festival held every other summer in Marquette Park on Chicago's Southwest Side.

(CHICAGO, IL, 6/17/05) - CAIR-Chicago conducted a seminar, titled "Hate Crime: Define and Respond," at the Muslim Community Center (Community Hall), 4380 N. Elston Ave., Chicago.

CAIR-Chicago participated in Foundation Fair at Islamic Foundation in Villa Park on Sunday, June 12. The Foundation Fair was an enjoyable afternoon bazaar of booths filled with everything from international cuisine of the Middle East, Persia, and South Asia to booths containing ethnic clothing and jewelry.

CAIR-Chicago is a lead organization in the Civil Liberties Coalition of Illinois (CLCI). The CLCI is a grouping of respected organizations in Illinois that each stands firmly in collective opposition to the reauthorization of the sunset, or expiring, provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act.

Project O, the CAIR-Chicago American Muslim organizing initiative, is moving forward full steam. Thousands of Muslim registered voters' names have been entered into the CAIR-Chicago’s databases over the last couple of weeks. The total number of names now exceeds 11,500 and is growing daily.

For the last three weeks, CAIR-Chicago has registered new voters during Friday prayers at the Muslim Community Center (MCC) located at 4380 North Elston.

CAIR-Chicago is taking part in a summer-long campaign called Muslms Care (www.muslimscare.org), initiated by CAIR-National, to promote community service in the Muslim community. A theme is selected for each month (June-August). June was Health Awareness Month.

CAIR-Chicago’s Civil Rights Coordinator, Christina Abraham spoke at an event held by the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (JCUA) for the Jewish holiday, Lag Ba’omer, last Thursday, May 26th.

As part of our political empowerment endeavor called Project O, Fadi Farhan, Director of Governmental Relations and Dina Rehab, Outreach Coordinator, held CAIR-Chicago's first Marathon Day at the Downtown Islamic Center (231 S. State Street, Chicago IL 60604) on May 13.

CAIR-Chicago's Outreach Coordinator, Dina Rehab, and Outreach Intern, Tamer Abouzeid, conducted an interactive multimedia presentation on the Muslim Experience Post 9-11 at a Chicago High School last Friday. Over the course of 3 class periods, approximately 180 students ranging from freshmen to seniors gathered in Englewood High School's auditorium for the discussion.

What makes volunteering with CAIR-Chicago interesting? Our volunteer program does not simply enlist random individuals to handle random tasks. A well-organized system is in place that takes into account the skill-set of the volunteer, their preferred area of work, and their availibility; it then matches them with the best fit program available.

CAIR-Chicago's Outreach Coordinator, Dina Rehab, gave a presentation on Women's Rights in Islam as part of a Women's Studies class at the Institute for Learning in Retirement at Northwestern University. The class is composed of retired professional women.

CAIR-Chicago's primary Governmental Relations endeavor, Project O, is moving forward as scheduled. CAIR-Chicago's team of dedicated weekly volunteers has identified all the registered American Muslim voters in the 3rd, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 13th Congressional Districts of Illinois for entry into our database of registered Muslim voters.

The significance of our recent organizing effort in Orland Park is apparent in the numbers. Before the pilot project in Orland Park, approximately 700 Muslim voters were registered in the village; after the mobilization, approximately 1,000 eligible Muslim voters, a 40% increase, are registered.

On Monday, March 21, Fadi Farhan, CAIR-Chicago’s Director of Governmental Relations met with staffers from the following congressional offices: Congresswoman Judy Biggert (13th District-IL), Congressman Danny K. Davis (7th District-IL), Congressman Rahm Emanuel (5th District-IL), Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez (4th District-IL), Congressman Daniel W. Lipinski (3rd District-IL), and Congressman Bobby Rush (1st District-IL).

Fadi Farhan, Governmental Relations Director of CAIR-Chicago as well as a member of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), the Mosque Foundation of Bridgeview, the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP), and the Muslim Civil Rights Center (MCRC), met with State Senator Jacqueline Y. Collins of the 16th District to discuss the issue of Muslim charitable contributions in Illinois.

Yaser Tabbara and Fadi Farhan, Executive and Governmental Relations Directors, respectively, of CAIR-Chicago participated in Congressman Daniel Lipinski's (IL – 3rd District) townhall meeting on Saturday, February 19, 2005, along with members of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), Instituto Del Progreso Latino, United Power for Action and Justice, and Mosque Foundation of Bridgeview.

CAIR-Chicago Executive Director, Yaser Tabbara, along with a number of Muslim community leaders, met Thursday, February 10, with United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Patrick Fitzgerald and local FBI and DHS officials

CAIR-Chicago’s executive director, Yaser Tabbara, made a statement today at a telephonic press briefing held by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR). The purpose of the press briefing was to inform and take questions from the media regarding the anti-immigrant bill proposed by U.S. Representative Sensenbrenner (“REAL ID” HR 418).

Fadi Farhan, Director of Governmental Affairs Director for CAIR-Chicago met with leaders of several prominent community organizations spanning all of Chicagoland on Monday, February 7 to discuss, amongst other issues, the rights of Muslims to contribute to Muslim charities as part and parcel to their faith. Since 9/11, Muslims have feared that they might inadvertently contribute to a charitable organization deemed by the federal government to be connected to terrorism.