photo of MayAmanah Threads provided by Manon Eberhardt
For many years, the Muslim community of Indiana has expressed a desire for the opportunity to donate their gently used clothes and items to others in need. There have been several attempts at programs at mosques to offer these free thrift stores or to have a room with donations for those in need. There haven’t been enough volunteers to sustain these donation areas, and it takes an incredible amount of work to create and organize donation efforts and keep these areas clean and tidy within the mosques. Because of the difficulty and lack of volunteering, most of the mosques have decided to not accept non-food donations. The question I hear regularly from many community members is, “where can I take clothing donations?” The answer is typically to drop items to the local Goodwill stores, but Muslim women have a different option for modest clothes.
One sister has created a thriving thrift and swap membership program for modest women’s clothing. Allow me to introduce you to Manon Eberhardt of Carmel Indiana. Eberhardt. Originally from France, Eberhardt came to Indiana in 2103 to finish up her master’s program in International/European Relations by participating in a research semester at IUPUI. She became Muslim around that time and married her husband who she met in college who has a background in Islamic studies.
In the summer of 2023, Eberhardt launched the MayAmanah movement. Initially, her goal was to help children and their caregivers connect to nature through our Creator. Eberhardt says, “There is so much to learn about Allah SWT in nature, so I started a weekly outdoor program for young children and touched upon over 20 families over the last two years alhamdulillah! At the time, I already knew I wanted to focus on other programs as well, aimed more specifically at adults, and with all the recent studies and reports around the unethical practices of fast/ultra-fast fashion, my thrift-and-swap idea came to life alhamdulillah.”
Eberhardt started with a few pop-up clothing swaps in 2025 to gauge interest of the initiative and with enough words of encouragement and visits to the pop-ups, she decided to proceed with MayAmanah Threads by opening a store. MayAmanah threads is a membership thrift and swap store for women’s modest fashion in Central Indiana. Eberhardt adds, “The idea is that we all have way too many clothes we don’t wear, and the fashion industry is going crazy with overproduction (fast fashion, ultra-fast fashion…), unethical practices (underpaid/enslaved labor, health risks due to chemicals used with no protection…) and environmental challenges (thousands of liters of water used to just make one cotton shirt, tons of clothes that are being dumped in third-world countries even when they are still in good condition, and yet can’t be recycled because of their poor quality…). Instead of buying new anytime you “need” something or donating clothes to organizations that will eventually send them overseas, creating life-threatening swamps over there, you can come to MayAmanah Threads, pay $10 per month to become a member, and swap clothes you no longer want/wear with other pre-loved items from our growing collection. We have a great variety of styles and sizes, including ethnic clothing, both formal and lounge wear, many items with tags still on Masha ‘Allah. Women who are interested in MayAmanah Threads but cannot afford the monthly fee and/or do not have clothes to swap can apply for a sponsorship – no questions asked and it will be completely anonymous on both ends.”
Eberhardt is also working with partnering with local organizations that work with refugees, inmates and formerly incarcerated people and women victims of domestic abuse to provide clothing at no cost through sponsorship.
Running a donation-based thrift initiative is an immense amount of work. Sorting through large donations requires a lot of time, not only to divide into sizes which often is a guess but also to remove donations that have rips, stains, holes or other various damages. Items that are stained are damaged are not considered gently used and cannot be accepted for donation at any thrift retail or initiative. Community members graciously donate items but overlook items that cannot be considered gently used. Eberhardt typically does this work herself, except for a friend who helps her with her social media accounts and occasional offers to help from MayAmanah members.
The MayAmanah store is located at Inspyred, an institute in Carmel that Eberhardt’s husband founded aiming to help Muslims connect, explore Islam, and inspire confidence in our Islamic identity in the North American context. She adds, “Inspyred is a weekend program, evening classes and regular events and workshops, but it’s also a growing community, a large events space, and a coworking option for small businesses or self-employed folks, Masha ‘Allah. We will also soon be offering after-school clubs and more Insha’Allah!”
Currently MayAmanah Threads is open Sunday from 3-5 PM and by appointment outside of that. There are plans to extend these hours as membership grows Insha’Allah.
MayAmanah Threads is located at Inspyred at 12400 N. Meridian St. Suite 150, Carmel IN 46032
MayAmanah Threads photo by Manon Eberhardt
MayAmanah Threads photo by Manon Eberhardt
MayAmanah Threads photo by Manon Eberhardt
As if the thrift store initiative is not enough, Eberhardt also runs a seasonal outdoor children’s program under the MayAmanah title and a homeschool co-op called Muslim Homeschool Co-op for children ages 4-12, which is run separately through Inspyred. Eberhardt runs this co-op with two other families in which she said inspire her greatly.
provided by Manon Eberhardt
I asked Eberhardt to tell me a little more about the Muslim Homeschool Co-op. She says, “We have a weekly meetup during which we offer educational activities centered around various themes throughout the year (outdoor adventures, community helpers, Ramadan, etc.) and we also meet regularly outside of that for playdates, field trips and special programs.
Besides that, as mentioned previously, I also offer an outdoor program for children ages 2-10 years old and their caregivers called MayAmanah, although I have paused this since the summer and I am working on revamping it for the spring insha’Allah, possibly making it a forest school type of program. Stay tuned! With the Muslim Homeschool Co-op, we have a weekly meetup of at least 3 hours, which includes lunch time, but we usually stay longer for more social time. We plan activities according to themes that we pick depending on our children’s interests. For instance, we just finished an 8-week theme we called “Outdoor Adventures”. For each meetup, we focus on one topic within that larger theme, such as navigation tools (how to use a map and a compass), nature, art, birds, fire (types of campfires and how to build one), etc. We finish the theme with a Book Club for which each child chooses a book related to the theme to present to the rest of the group, as well as other clubs (Art Club, LEGO Club, etc.). This year, we have also integrated co-op jobs for the kids (to help with cleanup) and a character-building component, so each week, we also have an activity around a character trait or skill we think will benefit our kids (patience, teamwork, empathy, etc.). At least once a month, we usually do a field trip (we recently went to the National Weather Service office in Indianapolis for our Weather theme and it was such a great outing Masha ‘Allah!) as well as social playdates and special programs like a Hajj simulation, Ramadan crafts or LEGO Challenges which are usually open to non-homeschooled children.
Muslim Homeschool Co-op past event
Muslim Homeschool Co-op by Manon Eberhardt
I asked Eberhardt to tell me a little about the MayAmanah children’s program. She replies, “With MayAmanah, until last summer, I was offering it weekly for each season (summer, fall, winter, spring, and a special Ramadan 4-week session), with sometimes a short break in-between two seasons. Each season focused on one specific theme such as: Allah’s SWT Colors; Amazing Pollinators; “Sabr" - Patience, Persistence, Resilience (winter survival strategies we find in animals and critters and what they teach us); Allah's SWT Little Earth Custodians - How we can take better care of our planet. Each session lasts about an hour and includes an introduction to the topic, a game or activity to learn more about the topic (usually STEM-based), Arabic vocabulary and a story. After that, most families stay longer to play and socialize.”
MayAmanah past event by Manon Eberhardt
photo provided by Manon Eberhardt
I noticed that there is a strong connection with Eberhardt to the outdoors. I asked her what the significance with the outdoors is being a theme in her programs. “I grew up spending a lot of time outside alhamdulillah and it was something pretty normal for us where I’m from. Up to this day, I still have a need to be outside as much as possible, but I have noticed that many people in our communities, especially children, do not spend enough time outside or find value in the great outdoors, which I think is really sad. Before I started MayAmanah, my son and I were registered in an outdoor program and we really loved it, but it came to an end and it was secular, so the Creator of nature was left out, which, to me, made it an incomplete program. That’s when I decided to start my own thing. Many moms around me started telling me how the program had helped them get outside more alhamdulillah, and I’m so grateful I was a part of this!”
Not only is Eberdarht inspired by nature, but she also integrates Islam into everything she does. She says, “I do not necessarily try to drill Islamic concepts into what I do, rather, I look at them as Islam in action because actions speak louder than words. You can tell a child one hundred times that Allah SWT is our Creator and created everything, use ayaat from the Quran and teach them the Arabic name Al-Khaaliq, but if you don’t take them by the hand to explore these things with their own eyes, to touch them, to listen to them, to say “subhanAllah”, then all you have done is speak some words. The word “MayAmanah” is a compound of “maya” – which is what my son used to say when he was a toddler to mean “come with me” in Arabic – and “amanah” – which is the Arabic word for “trust”. Our children and the earth are exactly that: a trust. We can enjoy them for a limited time, and we have to take care of them the best we can until we go back to Allah SWT.”
Outside of being a trailblazer and ideator, Eberhardt is a wife and mother who enjoys hiking and being outside in nature. She also enjoys making crafts, fixing things and reading. Jazakallah Khair sister Manon Eberhardt for all that you do for our community.