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Muslims Help
those in Need
Instead
of food drives, charity collects money
Donations used to buy chickens sent to food banks
Oct. 10, 2006. 05:53 AM
BILL TAYLOR, FEATURE WRITER
The sun never sets on hunger.
Which
makes Ramadan the perfect time to remind Muslims of the plight
of the GTA's poor and needy, whatever their religion, says
Nimo Hussein.
During
the month of Ramadan, which began Sept. 23, Muslims must fast
during daylight hours. "But after sundown we can eat
... we can gorge ourselves if we choose," said Hussein
yesterday. "A lot of people don't have that option. They
sometimes don't know where their next meal is coming from."
She and
Shah Nawaz Husain, founder of the Brampton-based charity MuslimServ,
were at the Daily Bread Food Bank in Etobicoke trying to deal
with more than 360 kilograms of frozen halal chickens.
The original
idea had been to take the individual chickens and repackage
them in bags marked "a gift from Canadian Muslims"
and bearing a quotation from the Qur'an on the importance
of feeding the hungry. "...be good to your parents and
relatives and orphans and paupers and to neighbours close
by and neighbours who are strangers ..."
Alas,
the fowl proved to be a little too deeply frozen to be easily
separated from one another. So Husain had to come up with
a quick change of plan.
"This
is the first time we've tried this," he said, laughing.
"It needs a little fine-tuning. We're hoping to have
another batch of chickens, about the same amount, at the end
of Ramadan. We'll be better prepared. What we're doing now
is simply sending cases of chicken to various food banks.
When they get it, it'll be easier to handle."
Husain
started MuslimServ — motto: "Muslims serving disadvantaged
Canadians" — three years ago. In the past, he said,
local mosques would stage food drives at Ramadan. "But
that became quite cumbersome so we decided this year to ask
for money and we'd buy halal chicken."
Hussein
said another disadvantage of the food drive was "you
mainly get canned food, such as soup, or pasta or crackers.
People need protein."
A Web
manager, she lives in Scarborough and came to Canada from
Somalia 18 years ago. Husain, a retired engineer, left his
native Pakistan 40 years ago.
As they
spoke, 200 Daily Bread volunteers were busily packing boxes
with food for distribution. A second shift of 200 was due
to take over later in the day.
"Canada
is such a rich place," Husain said. "But there are
people here who are hungry. It's not something you expect.
Ramadan is always for giving; a tremendous amount of charity.
It's usually to someone you know in need. But that's where
you live in closer communities; where you know all your neighbours."
"We're
channelling it now in a Canadian way," said Hussein.
Fasting
every day for a month brings home the meaning of going hungry,
she said. "You can't focus, you're tired, you're irritable.
Think of people who have to live like that. They have no way
out, no sunset."
Source:
TorontoStar.com
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