In connection with the epidemic of coronavirus and in order to help the elderly and the needy who are unable to go to the grocery stores for their daily needs, it has been a while that with the initiative of three students from UCSD School of Pharmacy and the help of some eighty volunteers a group called “COVID-19 Community Outreach” has been formed..
Before discussing how this group operates and provides help, as well as AIAP’s cooperation with this group, it is necessary to briefly mention the history of the formation of AIAP and its various programs and activities.
The Association of Iranian-American Professionals of San Diego (“AIAP”) was formed about 27 years ago to introduce, gather, and exchange views among Iranian professionals specializing in various fields of medicine, engineering, technology, psychology, advocacy, accounting, etc. This Association which is a non-profit organization, in its monthly meetings, invites speakers and experts in various fields in order to provide cultural, scientific, and social programs to its members as well as other Iranians in San Diego. In addition, AIAP offers and organizes entertainment programs throughout the year such as Nowruz celebration, annual picnic, Yalda night celebration, monthly hiking program, etc.
AIAP also organizes other joint programs with two other active Iranian organizations in San Diego, the Persian Cultural Center (“PCC”), and the House of Iran (“HOI”), such as Chaharshanbeh Soori and Sizdeh Badr.
AIAP also has other projects to collect funds and donations in order to assist people who may need financial assistance, such as providing scholarship to college students through the Iranian American Scholarship Fund (“IASF”), donating to Child Foundation and provide financial assistance to people with healthcare expenses.
It should be noted that all members of the board of directors of AIAP voluntarily devote their time and, same as all AIAP members, pay the annual membership fee.
Regarding the COVID-19 Community Outreach group, the motivation for launching this group, taken from the content of an interview that was conducted by Radio Hamrah, which is one of the Persian-language radio stations in Los Angeles, with one of the three founding students named Ms. Afrooz Sabouri, is as follows:
“It all started when my classmate called me and said that she saw a sad picture of an old lady on Facebook looking at an empty store shelf and she looked was very worried that she couldn’t buy what she needed. We got very upset and decided to launch a campaign”.
This was how this group began its activities and started assisting high-risk members of our community including the elderlies, people who are living alone, immunocompromised people, and those with other severe health issues, by facilitating their daily shopping needs, shopping and delivering their groceries and picking up their prescription drugs for them. People needing such help would give the volunteers their list of needed items by phone or email, and then the group works together with more than eighty volunteers who are fluent in various languages, including Persian, Arabic, Chaldean, Assyrian, Spanish, and even sign language for the deaf, do the shopping for them and deliver it safely at the door step. In some cases, the group provides the purchased groceries to people who may not be able to pay for them, free of charge. So far, the group has helped more than 100 people and continues to help more people in need.
In this regard, the board of directors of the AIAP, knowing the goals and humanitarian activities of this group, decided to cooperate with them in order to promote their charitable endeavors as much as possible. Accordingly, with unanimous votes of its board members, an account called COVID-19 was opened on AIAP’s website and all compassionate and kind-hearted people were invited to participate in this charitable campaign by donating funds to this account to be forwarded to the Community Outreach Program. All collected funds are completely available to this group so they can use it to cover their expenses such as the cost of the groceries and other necessities for some of the people who are not able to pay for their groceries, and fuel cost for the vehicles of the volunteers that are delivering the purchased groceries to such people.at their door steps.
To-date, all funds raised have been disbursed to that group. In addition, AIAP’s board of directors decided and approved, despite its financial constraints, to donate to the said group from its budget.
In addition, one of the members of AIAP’s board of directors who is the treasurer of AIAP is responsible for transferring the funds raised to the above-mentioned group and on behalf of AIAP has conducted several interviews with media, including an interview with KIRN 670AM Persian Speaking Radio in Los Angeles to provide information about this group to Iranian fellow citizens and encourages individuals to participate in this great cause.
Those interested in listening to such interviews and Ms. Afrooz Sabouri’s interviews could refer to the links on the AIAP website.
AIAP invites all philanthropic readers and all the people who are always ready to help and support the needy in the society to visit AIAP website at www.AIAP.org and make a donation by credit card or by sending a check to AIAP’s address provided in that website to provide your humanitarian support the people in need during these difficult times.
It should be noted that because the AIAP is a non-profit organization, all donations are tax deductable.
With our extreme appreciation,
Association of Iranian-American Professionals (AIAP)
