How to become a member of ACCN

In the past few days we had many of our responsible community members request information on how they can become "Afghan Community Center of Nebraska (ACCN)" members. Here is the information:

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS TO CALL FAWAD JAN RAHMANZAI AT 402-871-2134. THE COST OF BECOMING A MEMBER IS A MINIMUM OF $25 A MONTH PER ENTIRE FAMILY. YOU CAN DONATE MORE THAN $25 IF YOU WISH. YOU CAN PAY IN DIFFERENT WAYS. FOR EXAMPLE $25 MONTHLY, $150 EVERY 6 MONTH OR $300 ONCE PER YEAR.

BENEFITS INCLUDE:

  1. First and most important you will help your own community to prosper.

  2. Free admissions for the entire family to all ACCN events and parties (Nawroz, Eid Fitr, Eid Qorban, Academic graduation celebration, Afghanistan Independence day and Autum party). Non-members will have to pay a ticket fee for each member of their family including children.

  3. Free use of masjid for khatem, fateha, etc. Non-members will have to pay $600 fee for use of Masjid to cover for Masjid expanses.

  4. Receive a monthly newsletter about your community by email. It will include announcements, Afghan business marketing, community activities, recognizing the most active community members, recognizing scholarly and athletic activities of Afghan children and many more.

  5. Enabling the ACCN board to provide financial assistance to Afghan families in Omaha in difficult times when needed.

  6. Help the ACCN board to provide activities for Afghan children to be successful in their career path. We already have "Medicine Interest Group" for those who are interested in a career in medicine. The goal of this Interest Group is to provide information about the path to medical school, assist on becoming competitive medical school applicants, coach these individuals to find volunteer positions and jobs in medical field, shadowing opportunities with physicians, research opportunities and networking in order to share their experiences with each other. With your help we are planning to start Interest Groups for pharmacy school, computer science and engineering in the near future for those Afghan individuals that are interested.

  7. Other benefits in progress and will be announced as formulated.

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT THE BOARD MEMBERS ARE ONLY VOLUNTEERS AND WORK FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE COMMUNITY. FURTHERMORE EVERY ACCN BOARD MEMBER ALREADY CONTRIBUTES $25-$50 MONTHLY TO OUR COMMUNITY ACCOUNT. BOARD MEMBERS DO NOT BENEFIT FINANCIALLY A SINGLE DOLLAR FROM YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS.

$25 PER MONTH PER FAMILY IS NOT A LARGE AMOUNT BUT IF EVERY FAMILY WILL CONTRIBUTE WE CAN DO SO MUCH MORE FOR OUR COMMUNITY.

~ACCN board

Help new members

When it comes to helping refugees, there are many ways to help, and you can help those who are waiting to enter the country by urging your elected officials to pass bills that support the resettlement process. You can help refugees that are coming soon by sponsoring a family and welcoming them to their new home.

New families are coming often, and you can sponsor a family by furnishing their apartment, welcome them from the airport, and be a friend with them and show them around the city.

You can stop by their house once a week and go through their mail and show them any important mail that needs to be taken care of.

One person's trash is another one's treasure, your used items might look old for you, but for others, it might be new. Don't throw your used items into the trash; instead, donate them to a local agency that will give them to refugees to be used.

Every refugee receives a one time $975 per person that they have to use to pay rent, pay utility bills, buy household items, and all other expenses. Your donated items can save them enough money to pay an extra month of rent. Be a friend with them, teach them one word of English; take them to grocery shopping with you.

Small things can make a huge difference in their lives.

You also need to insure

Insurance, an intangible, provides another intangible: peace of mind. Liability car insurance protects you from losing everything if you’re sued for causing a bad accident. How much you need, then, depends on the value of your assets, or what your combined savings and property are worth. It’s highly dependent on your financial situation, so be wary of general liability coverage recommendations you might see. The more you own, the more liability insurance you should have.

There are several things to look for in your homeowner’s insurance. There are gaps in coverage to look for, such as Ordinance, Water/sewer backup, ITV, etc. Please give a call to an insurance member of the community for a full insurance review. There is a lot more to look for in insurance than just price.

Call a community-based insurance agent, and ask specifically to compare the prices and protect you in the event of a loss.

Your donation is need

Dear community members, we need your donation to help out our community. Your donation will help with the cost and maintenance of the Masjid. When you donate, you will have many benefits, that will not apply if you do not donate and are not a member.

You can donate via a blank check or with your account and routing number. We have thus far 30-40 households who are donating; we have around 200 households. The minimum donation is $25, which is equivalent to two lunch out in a week. If we can get all the community to donate, a lot can be done with the minimum donations.

Member's benefits

What are the benefits of membership? One of the benefits is free entrance to all ACCN events; ie, concerts, picnics, and Eid gatherings. Another is free rights to use the Masjid; ie Khatum and Fateha. If you are not a member, the cost of using the Masjid will be $600 for each Khatum you have at the Masjid. Those who are members will be supported by the community in many ways. Last year a few of our community members had tragedies in the family. We, the board members, were able to create a GoFundMe page to help those particular members of the community. Members of the community will also receive emails to know what is going on in the community, and we are working to send a quarterly newsletter to our members too.

This will also be a platform for business owners to advertise their businesses. Free marketing for business owners is another benefit. It will help promote their businesses.