2023 September Newsletter

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Programs

Annual 28-Week & Fall 2023 Community Programs

We had our Placement Testing for our Annual 28-Week Dabka program on Saturday, September 23 and had a great turnout with 35 boys and 40 girls in attendance. Dabka teachers were able to work together to accurately place all students in their classes for the year. Our Annual 28-Week Arabic & Dabka programs will begin the week of Saturday, September 30. We are excited to see all our students!

In addition to our Annual 28-Week Programs, our Fall 2023 Community Program registration has been off to a great start with over 80 people registered! We are offering our community a variety of short 10-week programs throughout the fall season, including Arabuc Storytime, Sewing, Cooking, Basketball, Soccer, Men & Women’s Dabka, and more! If you are interested in registering for any of our Fall 2023 Programs, it is not too late! You can still register on our website, paccusa.org/ programs.

PACC Summer Fun Staff Appreciation and Debrief

Although our PACC Summer Fun program ended, staff and counselors from the summer came together one last time to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the previous summer program and to also enjoy one more lunch together. Staff & counselors were able to go over what went wrong, what went right, improvements for next year, and more. All in all, it was a great and productive meeting! We appreciate all of our hardworking summer staff so much and will miss them all!

Women’s Brunch

This month’s theme at our womens’ brunch was relaxation. Our attendees enjoyed a 45 minute yoga session with yoga instructor Mariam Mustafa. Following the yoga session, Skincare specialist Haya Herzallah had a presentation about skincare where she demonstrated a facial on one lucky attendee that won our raffle for a free facial. Fifteen women were in attendance.

Book Club

This book club meeting, we discussed Ghassan Kanafani’s “Returning to Haifa.” It was an engaging discussion on the literary and philosophical aspects of Kanafani’s works. A total of five people attended.

Book Talk

Book Talk this month was all about digital learning in high-needs schools. We discussed different approaches and techniques to working with diverse high-needs students based off of advanced research by our presenters. They stressed the importance of understanding how to teach students with diverse identities. A total of ten people attended.

Community Gathering for Palestine

We welcomed Rebuilding Alliance during their “I Care About Peace” tour. They brought a Palestinian Youth Delegation to Congress made up of Naziha Aysheh, Mamoun Awadallah, and although she couldn’t be with us that day, Christina Haj. Joined by Advocacy Coordinator Nisreen Malley, board member Adam Ramadan, as well as founder Donna Baranski-Walker, we discussed ways Palestinian Americans can get involved in local governments in order to make change. Twenty-six people were in attendance.

Staff and Volunteer Appreciation

To show our appreciation for our PACC Staff, Board of Directors, and volunteers, we hosted a dinner at PACC with entertainment by Shaheen Show NJ. To top off the night, we enjoyed Knafeh and games. Check out highlights from the event here.

Focus Group Campaign

To understand the issues that the Arab American community face while voting, we are conducting focus groups of 6-8 individuals. The focus group is meant to allow us to gain proper research on how to motivate Arab Americans to vote and how to overcome barriers to voting. Sign up for a focus group session here and get a $25 gift card for participating!

National Voter Registration Day

For National Voter Registration Day, we designed a flyer with a QR code that directs you to NJ’s Voter registration page. We posted the flier on our Instagram story to encourage people to register before the upcoming elections.

WhyIVote Campaign

We launched a great initiative, sponsored by NNAAC, called the WhyIVote campaign. We are asking community members to write why they vote on postcards. The responses will be used for research on how to engage Arab Americans more during the elections.

Day of Dignity

PACC tabled at the Day of Dignity in Paterson, New Jersey by Humble Beginnings. Humble Beginnings awarded PACC with the Community Partnership Award.

Basma & Mahdi’s First Day!

This month we welcomed our newest staff members to the PACC team, Basma Bsharat and Mahdi Mustafa. Basma is our new Palestine Education Director and Mahdi was onboarded as our Office Administrator.

We released a statement!

In response to the cruel and violent assault and abduction of eight Birzeit students by the Israeli occupation army on September 24, 2023, we released a statement condemning the attack.

Palestine Writes

On September 24th, PACC sponsored and attended the return of the Palestine Writes Festival in Philadelphia. The only North American literature festival dedicated to honoring and celebrating Palestinian literature and culture, the festival was an excellent learning and community gathering for all. Despite local pressures to shut down the event, Palestinians from all over were able to join and hear from amazing speakers including Salman Abu Sitta, Darrin Sallam, Dena Takruri, Marc Lamont Hill, and more. We look forward to being a part of it again next year.

Remembering the Sabra and Shatila Massacre

We dedicated a post on Instagram to the 3,500 innocent lives lost during the Sabra and Shatila refugee camp in Lebanon. We wanted to remind everyone of the struggles Palestinans around the world face and their resilience to keep the goal and vision of the right to return alive.

Our Latest Issue of Falastin Magazine Came Out!

This issue of our Falastin Magazine was a special edition that featured contributions from our very own PACC Summer Fun students. We also had members of our PACC family share their experiences in Palestine this past summer. Check out the latest issue here

Social Services Emergency Relief for Morocco

Following the tragic Earthquake in Morocco, we collected emergency aid items such as medicine blankets, hygiene cleaning supplies, tents, diapers and so much more. We are grateful to everyone who donated to this cause.

Community Mutual Aid

We hosted another Mutual Aid drive where we collected clothes, toys and household items for local community members who were in need. A total of 42 families picked up items that they needed. We are grateful to everyone who donated to our center!