2nd Chance Books for Prisoners


Mission


This program will provide the proper tools for change; Free Islamic books on belief, ethics, morality and family structure in Islam. They can use these books as a tool for self-development and to reform themselves and also their friends, loved ones and communities upon their release. Some of the many benefits of this program are changing prisoners bad habits into good ones; achieving social reform by teaching the morals and ethics of Islam



Why we are crowd funding


We would like to start off by saying that we truly thank everyone who has helped support this honorable project 2nd Chance Books for prisoners over the past 4 years. We started out sending books to about 30 prisoners in about 2 or 3 states in 2013 and now by the word of mouth it has spread to the point we have close to 400 prisoners in 18 different states writing to us seeking knowledge about Islam. We have sent nearly 3,000 books in thus far! These prisoners are American converts to Islam and this program has impacted their lives greatly. You can see testimonies of the immense benefits of this program and their conversion stories on our website www.2ndchancebooks.org. Some have even mentioned that this program has transformed their lives (See photos below). 

The 2nd Chance Books team has dedicated 4 years of their time and hardworking efforts into managing all the aspects of this program without taking any recompense for the work being done. The program has had explosive growth and is demanding much more of our time and much more resources than we have available. We see reported in Mishkat al Anwar that Imam Sadiq (as) said "Do not make life difficult for yourselves. Inform your religious brothers when you run into difficulties in life."  We are finding ourselves working on this project as a second job dedicating many hours into the night to answer the letters, answer questions of the inmates and package all of the books while maintaining everything that is incoming and outgoing in a detailed database.  We know how to expand at a rapid pace to acquire thousands of prisoners writing us and embracing Islam, but we have been holding back from doing this, because we barely have enough resources to manage what we have now.

We sat down and calculated the costs of what we need to keep this project a float and to continue serving these prisoners for 6 months. We are including a detailed spread sheet of what we need and are coming to the community to ask you all to help support this noble mission. We are not asking as something that is a trial, but rather as an established non-profit 501 (c) (3) charity with proven results from people who have changed their lives and embraced Islam through these books. Any contribution that you are able to give is tax deductible in the USA. Also, this act of charity is a sadaqa jariyya or a continuous act of charity for yourself or to dedicate for your loved ones who may have passed away.
 

How the donations will be used
 

$5,000 - Book Expenses: 1,250 books at projected growth for the next 6 months due to our current statistics and data

$2,500 - Postage Expenses for mailing the books

$615 - Shipping materials: Stamps, envelopes, boxes, Paper, Ink, Printer, Storage Containers, Tape

$700 - Website expenses: Domain, Hosting,  Email hosting, Maintenance

$770 - Marketing expenses to promote awareness: Flyers, Posters, Displays, Social Media Promotions, Mass Emailing Software, Commercials, Conferences

$514 - Office Expenses: PO Box cost, Internet, Electric

$7,200 - Salary of $400 a month for 3 staff members whose job responsibilities are:  2 Team Members doing the following tasks: Checking Post Office for Letters from Prisoners, Processing Letters, Filing Letters, Entering & Maintaining & Updating the Data Base, Expanding Outreach, Packaging Books, Taking Packages to the Post Office. 1 Team Member doing the following tasks: Researching, Answering the Questions of Inmates with the proofs and sources that they need.



How You Can Help

We hope that you will help us reach our goal so that we can operate for this coming year.

We would like to leave you with a saying of  Imam Ali (as) which stresses the importance of helping a fellow believer who is less fortunate than ourselves and to remember that our beloved Imam (as) is reported to have said:



"Do not feel ashamed if the amount of charity is small because to refuse the needy is an act of greater shame"



"To render relief to the distressed and to help the oppressed make amends for great sins."



$25 buys 4 - 5 Books for prisoners

$100 buys 25 Books for prisoners

$400 buys 100 Books for prisoners

$1,000 buys 250 Books for prisoners

We, at 2nd Chance Books, sincerely thank you for all you support.

2nd Chance Books
P.O. Box 338
8353-A Backlick Rd.
Newington, VA 22122
www.2ndchancebooks.org