On March 28, 140 Arab-American women gathered at the Arab American National Museum to fulfill the promise of an event named for them, “100 Arab-American Women Who Care.”

The Annex is a mostly-blank canvas of a space with grey concrete brick walls and a grey concrete floor (though a deep-red wall does grace the entryway). On a sunny day, like Saturday, natural light streams in through windows that give a view of the soon-to-be home of ArtSpace across Michigan Avenue. In preparation for the day’s event, the room was decorated with several white sheers which poured down from ceiling to floor, forming two rows of fabric columns down the center of the space. But, the most stunning feature of the room is the mural “Journeys and Distances” which will be a permanent fixture in the Annex.Painted by a group of Arab artists known as OTHER, the mural features a woman’s facing gently overseeing the movement of people in the painting. The woman also seemed to be overseeing the “100 Arab-American Women Who Care”–as Rasha Demashkieh, CAAP executive board member and the event’s creator, triumphantly called the women in the room that day.Maha Freji, deputy executive director and chief financial officer of ACCESS and founder of CAAP, spoke passionately about the “narrative out there that we (Arab-Americans) are not choosing.”Then, she called the women to action: “We have the responsibility to come up with a different narrative.”Just by their presence, said Freji, these women were announcing to the world that they were “problem solvers and peace promoters.”Freji said CAAP, a national organization launched by ACCESS in 2006, is one vehicle for writing that narrative. According to Freji, at CAAP, Arab-Americans from across the country and from all backgrounds will find the “tools” they need to express their philanthropic passions. Freji said CAAP’s goal is to develop a “powerful and cohesive Arab-American community that has a strong voice in American society.”

On Saturday, that voice was represented by academics, professionals, and, as guest Edna Zaid noted, “founders of the Palestinian-Detroit community.”Zaid was referring to Jamilah Okab and Hala Ajluni. (Both of their stories can be heard, in their own words, in the 2013 documentary “Voices Across the Divide”). Well-respected in the community in her own right, Zaid was named 2012 Woman of the Year by the Arab-American Women’s Business Council. All three women threw their support behind the Arab Heritage Council of Flint.Guests Soumaya Harb and Mariam Bakri supported Zaman International which, they said, provides clothes and housewares to new refugees and a “moving pantry” which distributes unused restaurant food to those in need. Other charities supported included the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Ann Arbor, the Islamic Cultural Association in Farmington Hills, and Alternatives for Girls in Detroit.

Now in its second year, 100 Arab American Women Who Care is based on a crowdfunding model where each guest contributes $100 and submits the name of her preferred charity. After all of the guests have arrived, the charity names are thrown into a basket and then three charities are chosen randomly. This year’s three charities included the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Zaman International, and, of course, the Belinda Sue Fund. Then, one supporter of each of the three chosen charities goes on stage to talk about why her charity is the most worthy. After that, each guest writes her choice on a ballot. After all of the ballots have been collected and tallied, the winner is announced.

Karma Adra spoke in support of the Belinda Sue Fund, Inc. Her mother suffered from ovarian cancer which, Adra gratefully reported, is now in remission.

For Adra, supporting the fund was an opportunity to give back to an organization that is working for her mom and for all women: “You draw yourself toward organizations that are going to help the people affected by the illness.”

She hopes the $10,000 grant will enhance the fund’s capacity to raise awareness of ovarian cancer: “It is preventable,” she said.

The power of this event isn’t only in the impact it has on a single charity, like the Belinda Sue Fund. For Freji, the event illustrates CAAP’s capacity to bring philanthropic-minded individuals together to make a greater impact than each of them could on their own. The result, says Freji, is that “$100 becomes $10,000.”

For more information on CAAP, visit centeraap.org.

Teresa Duhl

Special to the Press & Guide