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As coronavirus restrictions loosen, congregations grapple with including older adults

Yonat Shimron

June 11, 2020 |

Religion News Service |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Florida

When the coronavirus pandemic shut down large gatherings, some churches in the U.S. began offering outdoor services to safely serve their congregations – such as in one retirement community in Florida where members attended services via golf carts. As the weather turns cooler though, churches are finding creative ways to further engage older members such as encouraging them to join Zoom calls for song and worship.

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How to Feed Crowds in a Protest or Pandemic? The Sikhs Know

Priya Krishna

June 08, 2020 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York

Feeding those in need and helping one's community are traditions of the Sikh faith that date back centuries, but they are now benefiting neighborhoods across America where Sikh houses of worship, Gurdwaras, are churning out as many as 145,000 meals over the course of 10 weeks. Gurdwaras are outfitted with the infrastructure to make meals on a mass scale and because Sikhs are expected to donate ten percent of their time or money to community service, they also have the volunteers and funds to buy ingredients. This allows them to fill a need that arose after soup kitchens fell short of the demands.

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How COVID-19 and the fight against Big Oil is reviving one Alaskan people's spiritual traditions

Daysha Eaton

May 30, 2020 |

Religion News Service |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Alaska

To the Gwich’in Athabascan people living inside the Arctic Circle in Alaska, the decades-long fight against oil drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) represents more than an environmental struggle: It has sparked a spiritual and cultural renaissance among indigenous people whose customs had been discouraged since colonial days. Young Gwich’in have worked to revive their language, self-sufficiency, and traditional arts and crafts. The COVID-19 pandemic has only deepened their commit to respond to threats to their way of life.

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Churches are an unlikely ally in solving the rural internet access puzzle

Liora Engel-Smith

May 21, 2020 |

North Carolina Health News |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Robbinsville, North Carolina

With the help of a program that enables churches to assess the needs of their community and create solutions, one reverend in North Carolina was able to provide a lifeline: internet access. Rural communities like his in North Carolina struggle with internet access and are unable to schedule vital telehealth visits, complete school work or work from home. The funds paid for internet as well as several old computers and 14 hotspots.

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Need a Quran teacher? There's an AI for that

Aysha Khan

May 20, 2020 |

Religion News Service |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

An AI app is potentially eliminating the need for Quran teachers by offering precise feedback to those who are learning to recite or memorize the holy book of Islam. Tarteel uses machine learning technology to enable speech recognition, allowing it to test users' knowledge of the Quran and to receive feedback on recitation without a teacher. The tool can identify mistakes and has a memorization mode, only revealing words as they are recited. Building such an accurate tool "requires a vast data set to train a deep neural network" so users who opt in are crowdsourcing the data set needed to power Tarteel.

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The Mask Project offers jobs to unemployed and masks to Arizona's hardest-hit communities

Jacob Wirtschafter

May 18, 2020 |

Religion News Service |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Phoenix, Arizona

An interfaith partnership between religions institutions and communities in Arizona has helped provide mask-making jobs to those who have lost their sources of income during the coronavirus pandemic. Participants include many from Latino and Native American communities who have been particularly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The project is not only providing enough of an income for these community members to support their families, but it also is working to keep the local communities safe by distributing the masks to those who need them.

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New York City Muslims work to build food security during Ramadan

Aysha Khan

April 28, 2020 |

Religion News Service |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

The coronavirus pandemic has caused mass shutdowns of businesses and organizations around the world, and in New York City that includes mosques which typically offer nightly "communal iftar meals" during Ramadan. Knowing that many in the city rely on those free meals, New York City Muslims have begun collaborating and creating mutual aid programs. One such effort includes distributing gift cards from Arab, South Asian and Muslim-owned businesses, which helps both the individual and community.

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During Ramadan in isolation, Muslims get creative to preserve community

Aysha Khan

April 23, 2020 |

Religion News Service |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

As the Ramadan season begins, Muslim communities around the world are making adjustments to how they observe it in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Minneapolis, the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood is broadcasting the call to prayer by speaker and in the U.K., the National Huffadh Association has created an online toolkit on how to pray at home. With connection and community a key part of Ramadan, a Reddit thread has started, connecting people for a Secret Santa-style Eid gift exchange, and a Minneapolis programmer has started an online service matching people in time zones to break fast together.

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Halal donations start for Muslim medical front-liners

Jhesset Enano

April 20, 2020 |

Philippine Daily Inquirer |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Philippines, Manila

Alzaky Foods is providing free halal meals to Muslim medical workers in metro Manila. Many Muslim frontline workers were surviving on fast food, crackers, or chips since food donations were not halal. Alzaky has provided more than 2,400 halal meals to over 60 government and private hospitals across the city. The company provides some of the funding in combination with external donations. Identifying Muslim medical workers is a challenge. So far they have identified 200 doctors, nurses, and other medical staff, which they believe is only about 20-30% of the actual number.

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One church's tale of two pandemics, 100 years apart

Megan Botel Isaiah Murtaugh

April 15, 2020 |

The GroundTruth Project |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

The quarantines and shelter-in-place orders that many cities in the United States are enacting today to combat the coronavirus pandemic can be compared to similar tactics taken in 1918 to stop the spread of influenza pandemic. However, with modern-day technology, churches in particular are finding that they are better able to safely reach their members through the use of video conferencing rather than door-to-door visits. For a Los Angeles church, this is part of a comprehensive approach that aims to abide by social distancing requirements while still helping those in need.

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