Our annual general assembly meeting is set for Sunday, April 22nd (it seems like the last one was yesterday), the youth are planning an all day event on April 7th featuring outstanding guest speakers and an informative agenda and the Annual Middle Eastern Dinner is set for Sunday, April 29th. Plus, we will have a Spring clean up day on Saturday, April 14th to help get our center in shape.

So, what have we accomplished since our last general assembly meeting? Well, although we are still searching for a permanent Imam, we believe we are making progress toward hiring someone. We plan to interview more candidates in the next few weeks. To our surprise, there has been a lot of interest in from potential Imams in our community. Thanks to all of our community members who have sat with visiting Imams in group discussions and at the potluck lectures. We can't accomplish our goals without your participation.

The Annual Middle Eastern Dinner was rejuvenated not just to raise sorely needed funds for our Center, but more importantly as a public relations event for our friends and neighbors in the Cedar Rapids area. Citizens of Cedar Rapids look forward to this event every year. This fact was noted in a Cedar Rapids Gazette poll conducted last year of the top 100 local area events. With the negative publicity of Islam in our country and the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is important that we continue to show an accurate picture of Islam and Muslims. The dinner is one small way of doing that. Nevertheless, the dinner is a lot of work and it takes full community involvement, women, men and youth. Please do your part in helping us work as a team to reach our goals of selling tickets, preparing food and serving our guests. Contact Tima Smejkal or any board member if you would like to volunteer.

The fundraising dollars from last Ramadan are being applied as promised. The roof is 90% complete. We are planning to do some minor construction in the masjid by adding insulation and remodeling the mihrab. We still need to install new HVAC units, one by one as needed and insulate the ceiling in the prayer room.

Another bit of news is the addition of new basketball hoops in the gymnasium and volleyball equipment. The playground equipment arrived as well and will be set up as soon as weather permits. Our youth have been using the gym more frequently now. Stop by and check out the gym. All we need now is a sport floor, but we are short of funds to purchase and install it. A sport floor will be much safer to play on and will add to the look and utility of the gym and allow us to use it for other purposes. If you are interested in donating or learning more about the sport floor, please contact me and I will be happy to give you more details.

Finally, I want to encourage all of you to attend the General Assembly meeting on April 22nd. Learn what your board has done and what is planned for the future. Express your concerns or thoughts and most importantly, vote in the board election. Again, your participation is a critical part of the success of our Center.

Sincerely,

Hassan Igram