Frequently Asked Questions

 A: Muslim Volunteers for New York, Inc. (MV4NY) is a nonsectarian 501 (c) (3) registered not-for-profit organization engaged in charitable and volunteer-based initiatives in support of the Greater New York area. Our main areas of focus are (1) Environmental Stewardship, (2) Education, (3) Alleviation of Hunger and Poverty and (4) Health, Wellness and Community.   

 A: Muslim Volunteers and MV4NY.  

A: MV4NY is not a religious or an interfaith organization. All are welcome!

It is a nonsectarian not-for-profit organization engaged in community service and volunteer-based initiatives in support of communities in the Greater New York area regardless of race, religion, ethnicities, gender or other demographic differences. However, our efforts are guided by the Islamic principle of “Sadaqa,” or charity to create goodwill. This belief motivates us to embrace & serve communities to lessen economic, social and educational inequities.

 A: MV4NY welcomes everyone to join us in serving NYC and other deserving communities. The process is simple and straightforward. You can sign up to receive notifications about upcoming volunteering opportunities or family friendly events by checking out the Events section of our website, by following us on Facebook and Instagram or by filling out our contact form with a request to join our mailing list. 

 A: No. There is no subscription or membership fee. 

 A: Everyone is welcome to volunteer with Muslim Volunteers for New York. MV4NY has a truly diverse volunteer base. It includes individuals, students (school, college, university, Sunday schools etc.), corporations, professionals and professional groups, green groups, members of other non-profits, interfaith groups, associations, and families.  

 A: MV4NY has a 12-month rolling scheduled roster of volunteering activities across its platforms ranging from meal distributions to homebound seniors, to park clean-ups, to book sorting and bagging or packing produce and groceries at food pantries and soup kitchens. 

MV4NY also curates volunteering opportunities for schools, corporations, professional organizations, specialty groups and anyone who wants to engage in community service. 

 A: MV4NY welcomes multi-generational participation in its family friendly projects. Certain projects are restricted to people 18 and older depending on the nature of the project.  

 A: Yes. MV4NY curates specific programming for schools within the purview of its platforms including our Education Platform and Alleviation of Hunger & Poverty. We work with leading public and private schools in NYC. For a list please refer to our Partners page. Programs include leading groups of children to pack the produce or bag groceries at food pantries, deliver food to home-bound seniors and organize Ramadan School Food Drives, and  taking high school and college students to sort and organize books collected by Project Cicero. 

If you are a student and would like to get involved with us, please contact us here. If you are a school administrator and would like for us to coordinate volunteering opportunities at your school, please contact us here.

A: MV4NY funds community service activities primarily through 

(1) annual ‘virtual’ drives to collect or fund the purchase of food, clothing, books, or instruments, 

(2) volunteering events, 

(3) education and specialty projects in support of the four platforms

(4) Grant funding from private and public sources. 

Food, clothing, book, and instrument drives are a large component of our work. Virtual drives (typically for two to three weeks) and are conducted on line where people donate money. One hundred percent of the cash proceeds, or the equivalent in food, clothes and/or books is donated to the beneficiary charity or non-profit organization. For musical instrument drives, we collect gently used instruments for donation and deploy 100% of cash donations  to buy new instruments for the beneficiary organization. Donations from all drives are a “pass through” from donors via MV4NY to the ultimate beneficiary. 

Volunteering events are funded through member donations or MV4NY internal resources.

For education and specialty projects, MV4NY will reach out to its membership base specifically to raise money for the project and 100% of proceeds collected are used for the project. Additionally, if the costs are modest, the company will undertake the costs.

Occasionally, MV4NY will also apply for small grants to support its environmental platform with the City Parks Foundation and Partnership for Parks. All the grant money is used for events held at Ruppert Park, NYC. We also get support in the form of supplies and entertainment from NYC Parks, Partnership for Parks and Council Member in District 5 for Ruppert Park.