The International Rescue Committee’s May 2021 profile describes Shazia Faizi and the Al-Mustafa Foundation of Utah working with Muslim Girl Scout Troop 496 on Eid gifts for resettled families. The scouts learned budgeting and gathered coats, school supplies, toys and household items. During 2020, they adapted the project to online shopping, while younger scouts made handwritten cards.
A child becomes a volunteer
The IRC account records a girl who received an Eid gift in 2016 later joining the troop and helping organize the 2021 project. It also dates the troop’s formation to 2006 and its IRC partnership to 2008. Those details show a continuing relationship in which children could become contributors themselves.
From gift-giving to preserving family history
Al-Mustafa Foundation also leads a Utah Muslim heritage project. Its website describes collecting photographs, documents and artifacts; the project records a February 2024 Scan and Share event at Salt Lake Community College. Family materials provide another way to tell the story of people making a home in the state.
The heritage site lists an exhibition opening at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center in West Valley City on May 2, 2025. Its description emphasizes personal items, heirlooms and artworks associated with Muslim homes. That is a past exhibition record, not a claim that the show is still open.
A building shaped by a growing congregation
West Valley City’s Khadeeja Islamic Center offers another way to explore local history: through a building that changed as its congregation grew. In a 2013 Salt Lake Tribune account, architect Kimly Mangum described starting with a modest brief and researching mosque architecture. A later expansion added a second story, moved and enlarged the minaret, and introduced the gold-colored dome visible in the photograph.
The article names Masood and Noor Ul-Hasan among the people recalling the project. Their accounts connect architectural choices with the work of organizing and paying for a community building. Khadeeja is a separate institution from Al-Mustafa Foundation; its photograph illustrates this architectural history, not the scouts’ gift deliveries.
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Two ways to make belonging tangible
A coat, a school backpack and a family photograph serve different purposes. The gift program addresses a child’s immediate needs; the heritage project gives local families a place in the historical record. Together they offer a fuller view of the foundation than an event announcement alone.
Use the foundation and heritage project websites below to explore their own records. Our education and resettlement collections provide broader routes through youth participation and community support.
Follow the story
Explore the original reporting and organizational records:
Selected local stories, not a complete account of the state. Events and figures refer to the periods stated above. Check directly with organizations for current services.