On Sunday, July 17, CAIR-Chicago and the other organizational members of the Civil Liberties Coalition of Illinois (CLCI) held a town hall meeting to discuss the issues involved in the expiring, or sunset, provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act. The town hall meeting occurred between 1 and 3 pm on the campus of Loyola University and had greater than 120 attendees in a packed house from a diverse cross-section of the Chicagoland community.

Dr. Shakeela Hassan, CAIR-Chicago Board member, and Fadi Farhan, Director of Governmental Relations, took part in a gathering of Palestinian and Israeli children aged 14 to 16 hosted by Islamic Foundation in Villa Park on Friday, July 15, 2005.

CAIR-Chicago participated in its first Cafe Finjan event on Thursday, July 14th, at Che Cafe - 1058 W. Taylor Street. Cafe Finjan is a series of interfaith arts exchanges, begun in 2004 by the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs as part of its Jewish-Muslim Community-Building Initiative.

As part of Muslims Care (www.muslimscare.org), a national campaign promoting community service, CAIR-Chicago organized a volunteer opportunity for enthusiastic Muslims in the Chicagoland area. 18 volunteers prepared and served meals to residents at Hilda's Place, an Evanston-based homeless shelter.

CAIR-Chicago’s Civil Rights Coordinator Christina Abraham met with the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Civil Rights representatives to discuss what the Office for Civil Rights (OJP/OCR) can do for victims of discrimination by agencies that receive federal financial assistance. The OJP/OCR enforces civil rights laws such as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, among other laws.

Christina Abraham, CAIR-Chicago's Civil Rights Coordinator, and Fadi Farhan, Director of Governmental Relations, took part in a meeting on June 24 at the Chicago Police Department (CPD) Headquarters in which the topic of discussion was racial profiling during traffic stops in the city.

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.