A Houston high schooler decided refugees needed a welcome guide, so he wrote one
High Schoolers AIM to AID turned one student's idea into chapters in several states.
Arriving in a new country involves paperwork, but the harder part is the ten thousand small facts nobody writes down: how the bus works, what people mean when they say a thing, why the dollar store is not a dollar. Ibraheem Razouki, who was born in Baghdad, set out to write some of them down.
Razouki, a student at Lamar High School in Houston, founded AIM to AID, which Points of Light says began in March 2022 with co-founder Zane. It is a registered 501(c)(3) that aims, in its own words, to “promote youth civic engagement in communities and assist refugees throughout the United States and beyond.”
The work is practical and unglamorous in the best way. Its projects include brochures that explain Middle Eastern and American culture to each other, plus drives to collect and distribute clothing and toys. It has partnered with Refugee Services of Texas, the Islamic Society of Greater Houston and Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston.
The numbers in Points of Light’s June 2023 profile were already respectable: more than 100 refugees engaged, over $15,000 raised in donations and grants, more than 1,000 items collected and distributed, and five chapters in New York, Texas, Minnesota, California and Michigan. Razouki earned two President’s Volunteer Service Awards along the way.
The organization’s own website now reports larger totals: more than $30,000 raised, more than 1,000 immigrants aided with necessities, over 25 chapters and 110 team members. These are the group’s self-reported figures, and the site carries no dated entries after 2023, so treat them as the organization’s claim rather than an audit.
Razouki is clear-eyed about scale. The refugee crisis, he told Points of Light, “is not something we can single-handedly solve in a couple of years.” His advice to anyone considering something similar is shorter: “The most important thing is to just start.”
That is the whole operating model. A founder, a few classmates, a printer for the brochures, and the decision not to wait until someone older had a plan.
Contact: aimtoaidorg@gmail.com
